Matchmakers From Hell
by Elemental Gypsy
Summary: MiguelKai, RayMystel:: Ray really should know better than to go out drinking with Tala and Bryan. Kai warned him, but did he listen? Noooo. Now he has to deal with the two Blitz boys acting as matchmakers. But are they playing matchmaker for him?
1. Drunken Confession

**Title: **Matchmakers From Hell  
**Summary:** Ray really should know better than to go out drinking with Tala and Bryan. Kai warned him, but did he listen? Noooo. Now he has to deal with the two Blitz boys acting as matchmakers. But are they playing matchmaker for him?  
**Pairings:** Miguel/Kai, Ray/Mystel  
**Warnings:** Yaoi. Fluff. OCCness. Humor. Ray torture. Bryan and Tala playing devious matchmakers. And a bit of swearing. Potential lime scene in the future.  
**Disclaimer:** Don't own Beyblade. You would certainly know it if I did.

Hey there. Another humorous fic for you to enjoy. And I sincerely hope you do. A bit of fun on Ray's expense, which is all good. Please enjoy!

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**Drunken Confession**

Stepping out of the expensive lobby into the crisp green gardens adorning the courtyard of his American hotel, Ray lets his eyes wonder over his green surroundings, his eyes immediately fallen upon a rather large group of his fellow bladers. All the Beyblade teams are currently staying at the one place. It's a vacation of sorts. Each blader has a room all to him or herself, which everyone agrees to.

How much the BBA paid this posh hotel to hold several rambunctious Beyblade teams in one sitting isn't known. But is must be a lot.

Ray shakes his head at the thought and begins to move towards the group, wanting to involve himself in on the fun, but pauses when he spies a certain perky little blonde half-Egyptian, half-Greek blader.

Mystel. Ray gazes at him with a slight predatory gaze. But there is an underlining of annoyance in his amber eyes as well. Instead of walking over to the group, Ray plonks himself down at the base of a tree and folds his arms over his chest as he sits as if he's trying to meditate.

"God damn blonde," Ray mumbles to himself under his breath. "Why is he so adorable?"

He watches through slanted eyes as Mystel joyfully messes around with his fellow bladers, looking if though he's really enjoying himself. He has a genuine smile on his face and his beautiful blue eyes seem to be glowing with happiness. He truly is gorgeous.

Yes, Ray has this thing for Mystel. However, unfortunately for him, Mystel is just a little too naïve. Whenever he compliments Mystel on his eyes, he gets a "You're funny" comment and then the blonde would wonder off. Do not get him started on all those failed pick-up lines.

"Why the long look, Kitty?" A deeply accented voice asks from the side of him. "What's gotten you so down?"

Ray immediately finds himself bristling at the nickname and whips around to face the offender. "Did you just call me kitty?" he hisses, his hackles standing up on end.

Leaning casually on either side of the tree, two certain Russians smile slyly down at him, their eyes half-lidded and looking a little too mischievous for Ray's liken. These two have quite a reputation.

"You look like you're in a foul mood," Tala says. "I know a way to cure that."

"Yeah?" Ray says, not bothering to hide his skepticism and suspicion. "And?"

"No need to be so moody with us around, Ray," Bryan tells him, sounding a little bit too friendly. "We're just here to offer you a chance to hang out with us, that's all."

Ray raises an eyebrow in disbelief. "Oh?"

"Why don't you hang out with us tonight?" Tala offers, a warm smile appearing on his lips. "We're heading down to the bar here at the hotel to have a few drinks."

"Yeah, join us," Bryan chides in. "It'll be fun."

Ray seems to consider it for a moment, mentally trying to come up with reasons why he shouldn't. Surely, they cannot get themselves into any trouble. They are staying within the hotel premises. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt. Kai is always harping on me about getting to know you guys better."

"Then it's a deal," Tala says with a nod. "See ya tonight."

"Don't be late," Bryan warns before the two shares a look and then meandering off, back in through the lobby, most likely heading to their respective rooms.

Ray watches them leave until they are out of sight before climbing to his feet and dusting himself off. It's actually somewhat nice that Tala and Bryan offered him a chance to hang out with them. After all, the soul purpose of this American holiday is for the Beyblade teams to form a bond with bladers outside their own teams. It will help them develop skills and techniques.

It should be fun.

Now here comes the hard part. Getting past Kai. Kai is like this feisty, over-protective mother hen who can cut a man down to size at six paces with the flick of his tongue. He wants his Japanese teammates to get along better with his Russian friends, but has forbiddened them to have a drink with them.

This is going to take all of Ray's sneaky neko-jin skills to get pass Kai tonight.

--

Popping his head through his hotel room door, Ray strains his ears, trying to locate a certain enigma. Night has fallen and now he is trying to make it to the bar. The unfortunate thing is, his room is right next to Kai's and he has to walk past his door to get to the lift. And Kai has been known to have incredible hearing. He can probably hear a pin drop miles away.

Quietly shutting the door behind him, Ray begins to sneak past Kai's door, slowly making his way on tiptoes. He's almost half way.

Suddenly the door flies open. "Where are you going, Ray?"

Ray freezes mid step before slumping forward in defeat, a vain popping out of his forehead. "Oh, just out."

Kai folds his arms over his chest and gives him a stern look. "You're not going drinking with Tala or Bryan, are you?"

Ray feels a trickle of sweat drip down his back. _How the hell did he know that?_

"Um…no?" Ray tries to sounding convincing but he knows Kai can see right through him and he is ultimately digging his own grave.

Staring at him with a narrow and unwavering gaze, Kai continue to stand by his door in a disapproving manner. "You better not," he says with a warning tone. "You don't know how devious those two are when they hit the alcohol. They'll only get you into trouble."

Ray puffs his chest out, indignant. "I can take care of myself."

"I'm warning you, Ray," Kai shakes a finger at him. "Whatever you do, don't go drinking with them. You'll live to regret it."

"Jeez, Kai," Ray says, rolling his eyes like a rebellious teen disrespecting his parents. "You sound like a parent."

"Well, at least someone's responsible around here," Kai quickly retorts.

"You're always telling me to take the time to get to know them a little better," Ray points out, a slight smug smirk on his lips, thinking he just got one up on Kai.

However, Kai quickly cuts him down. "I want you to know them better when they're not at the bar. And you're not going there."

Ray feels indignant that Kai is treating him like a small kid. "Yeah, alright. Whatever you say, Kai," he says as he rolls eyes and stalks away, walking into the lift and pressing the button to the bar area. He folds his arms over his chest and sticks his nose in the air.

"At least someone's responsible," he mimics Kai's voice mockingly. "Pah, no wonder Tyson calls him a wet blanket some times. Sheesh. He treats me like I'm ten or something."

Stepping out of the lift, Ray quickly finds his two drinking buddies and before long, he has an alcoholic drink in his hand and chatting away as if they were old friends. Of course, the drinks don't stop coming and Ray soon finds himself leaning heavily against the bar to stop himself from falling off his bar stool.

He has only been drinking for an hour and he's already plastered.

"Youse guys won't tell Kai I went drinking with ya." Ray slurs as he turns a bloodshot eye towards the red hair Russian on his right. "Would ya?"

"And why would we do that?" Tala asks, still pretty much sober.

"Our lips are sealed, kitty," Bryan reassures as he loops an arm around his neck in a buddy like fashion. "Don't you worry about that."

Ray gives them a drunken grin. "Youse guys are the best, you know that?"

"Jeez kitty-cat," Bryan laughs, immediately noticing the new and prolong 'S' in his words. "You're drunk."

"Nos I'm not…" Ray frowns and then hiccups. He grabs his drink and takes a slip. Suddenly he slams it down on the bar in front of him and sits up straight. "It's not fucking fair!" he exclaims.

The sudden change of character startles Bryan and Tala. They share a look of mischief behind the neko's back before turning their attention to him again.

"What isn't?" Bryan prods, hoping for more details.

"I mean, what do I have to do?" Ray whines, sounding disgruntle. "Aren't I hot?"

Tala raises an eyebrow, a sly smile appearing on his lips. "Are you trying to capture the attention of someone, Ray?"

Ray suddenly slumps forward again, resting his chin on the bar, his cheeks flush from alcohol. "He acts all sweet and innocent. Heh, he's so cute."

"You don't say…" Bryan also gives a sly grin. He looks over to Tala, who nods at a silent question between them.

"Come on then, kitten," Tala coaxes. "What's his name?"

Ray unsteadily sits up and places a finger to his own lips. "Shoosh, it's a secret. You can't tell anyone."

"Don't worry," Bryan reassures him. "We won't tell a soul. Right, Tala?"

"Yeah," Tala nods and places a hand over his heart in a mocking way. "Promise."

In Ray's alcohol induce state, he takes the motion as sincere and smiles drunkenly at him. "Heh, ok, it's Mystel. Isn't he the cutest thing ever?" he takes a large gulp of his drink, burps and then throws his head back as he laughs.

"Really?" Bryan raises an eyebrow and places an arm of support behind Ray's back so he does not fall off his chair. "That's interesting."

"He's cute alright," Tala, confirms with a wolf like smirk on his lips. Suddenly, his eyes light up with a look of mischievousness and his smirk grows even more devious. "Hey, why don't we help you with your problem?"

The sudden suggestion catches Bryan off guard. "Huh?"

Ray tilts his head to the side, blatant surprise on his face. "Wha?"

"You know, help you catch his attention?" Tala explains as he gives Bryan a look.

Bryan immediately catches on and soon a feral look of his own graces his features. "…Oh, yes, of course. That's right Ray, we're going to help you gain your heart's desires."

"Really…?" Ray slurs.

Bryan bites his lip to stop himself from sniggering. "Of course."

Tala grins. "Absolutely."

Ray blinks a couple of times before lifting up an arm and uses it to pat heavily on Tala's shoulder in a strange display of affection. "Aw, I love you guys. You're the greatest," he hiccups and turns his attention to the bartender. "Hey bartender give us some another round!"

With the neko's attention busy ordering them more drinks, Tala and Bryan share a snigger behind his back and secretly plot their next move. Suddenly a large hand lands on each their shoulders, causing the two to jump slightly.

"I hope you two aren't taking advantage of Ray when he's drunk," Spencer says, looking at the two with narrow sea green eyes.

Bryan brushes off the comment quickly, waving a dismissive hand at him. "Naw, of course we're not."

"Would we do that?" Tala asks, trying his best to sound innocent, but with the wolf like grin still gracing his lips, it's not happening.

Spencer snorts at the both of them. "Damn straight you would."

"We're just helping him," Bryan tells him and Tala nods his head in agreement.

"That's right," he says. "Can't you see the poor guy's heartbroken?"

Spencer rolls his eyes at his two teammates and folds his bulky arms over his chest in a disapproving manner. "Whatever. Do what you want. It doesn't really matter; he won't get any sympathy from Kai. He warned him about you two," he says which causes the two to laugh outright. He shakes his head when he hears Ray try to gain the bartenders attention by yelling at him. "Look, whatever happens, I had absolutely no part in this, got that?"

"Yeah, yeah," Tala mutters, waving a dismissive hand at him. "You don't know what you're missing."

"Several blows to the head, probably," the bulky blonde mutters before dropping his arms. "I'm out of here. I ain't getting my fingerprints on this train wreck. Later."

Bryan and Tala both mockingly wave at him. "Bye!"

"Bartender!" Ray pounds his fist on the bar.

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Aw, poor Ray. No, not really. X3 That's nothing compared to what's to come! Mwahahahahahahahaha!

Please review.


	2. Tea and A Total Lack of Sympathy

Reviews: X3 A big thanks to everyone who reviewed; Kizzy Bloom, kaitouahiru, Dranza the Phoenix Goddess, Thegoldenlock, Kaz-za-15, Shyki, Tenshi of Freedom, Blaze Queenie, Rapunzelle, Petalwhisker X Fireheart, pheonix80, Destiny Kitty, LoNeLy aTHRuN ZaLa and animepie!!

And here's chapter 2! I hope you enjoy!

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**Tea and A Total Lack of Sympathy**

With his brain pounding violently in his frail skull, Ray eventually swims to the surface of reality and peers through bloodshot eyes over his Mount Everest pile of blankets. "Urgh, my head…" he groans as he lies as still as possible, placing his hands on his head and curling himself into a tight little ball in the middle of his bed.

Suddenly, even through the pain-filled fog of a hideous hangover, Ray is aware that someone is standing in his room; someone who is tapping his foot against the floor in a form in impatience and disproval.

Who the hell could be in his room?

"Morning Ray," a familiar voice cuts into his brain like a jagged dagger.

Of course, it's Kai. Who else could it be to see him in this pathetic state other than the pinnacle of perfection himself? The joy!

"Or should I say, good afternoon?"

"Urgh," Ray groans again as he tries to push himself into a sitting position and fight the urge to flop back down and go right back to sleep. The wonderful temptation to simply fall back into a state of unconsciousness is almost too great for this neko jin. But, alas, Kai will never allow it.

"Not so loud, Kai," he mutters as he tries his best to glare at the enigma, but with his hair looking like a bird's next and his eyes pinker than Mariah's hair, the venom in his gaze falls short of being vicious. In short, he looks like crap.

Which is probably good. Goes with the way he feels.

"It's 12.30," Kai says as lifts his hands off his petite hips and folds them over his chest, continuing to look at Ray with narrow eyes. "You missed breakfast and you have now missed lunch."

Ray feels his stomach churn at the thought of food and he gives off a slightly green look. "That's probably for the best."

"You went drinking last night, didn't you?" Kai asks in an accusing tone, his eyebrows knotting in annoyance.

"Er…I think so," Ray mutters, his mind still fuzzy from the pounding hangover. He then offers a half grin and rubs the back of his head. "Heh, I don't really remember."

Kai's eyebrow gives a sudden twitch when he realizes that even after warning him last night and the countless times before that, Ray still went drinking with the pair of troublemakers. He can't even imagine what kind of trouble the trio got themselves into last night. However, a fire or burglar alarm didn't go off, which is rather unusual with Tala and Bryan involved.

Sighing, Kai drops his arms and lets them hang loosely by his sides. Since nothing was destroyed or stolen, it can only mean one thing. He knew something like this would happen one day. "That's probably for the best since Tala and Bryan said that they -they meaning them and you- have some serious work to do."

"Work?" Ray repeats, confusion blatant on his face.

"Something about your heart's desire," Kai explains, remembering the short conversation he heard with the offending pair at breakfast this morning.

"Heart's desire?" Ray repeats after him once again, confusion still abundant. Suddenly, a look of horror appears on his face and he turns pale. "…Oh God, no."

Kai raises an eyebrow at the fear beginning to radiate from Ray's very being. "What?"

"I didn't?" Ray whimpers to himself as he hides his face in his hands, bowing his head in shame. "Oh shit, what have I done?"

Kai furrows his brow in concern and is about to ask the neko what's wrong when the door to his bedroom suddenly flies open and two certain Russians appear, looking a little too 'cheery' for Kai's liken. He then realizes that he's assumptions were right. Ray is going to experience true hell during the next couple of days.

"Wake up, kitty cat!" Bryan says loudly, showing no signs of a hangover or even that he had a few drinks last night. "We've got some major work to do!"

"Don't tell me you're suffering from a hang over?" Tala asks as he steps inside the room as well, grinning a half grin in Ray's direction. "Too weak to handle your alcohol?"

Quicker than lightning, Ray flies out of bed, still wearing the clothes he wore last night and grabs desperately onto the collar of Bryan's shirt, looking at him in a pleading manner. "Please tell me I didn't tell you about Mystel."

Bryan lets his eyes rolls towards the ceiling in thought and hums for a moment. "You mean the part where you said you have the hots for him?"

Appearing to the side of Bryan, Tala continues to smirk in a feral way. "Or the part where you think he has a cute little ass?"

"Or do you mean the time you said you think he has the purdiest looking eyes?" Bryan asks, fluttering his eyelashes at Ray in a mocking way as he purrs the words in a humorous seductive way.

Ray freezes to the spot for a moment and the temperature seems to drop a few degrees, before Ray drops his grip on Bryan's collar to hold his head in his hands and releases a cry of torment. "Argh!"

"Right!" Kai snarls, gaining his two childhood friends' attention. He stands in front of them with his hands on his hips and glares at them with accusing eyes. "What the hell have you two done to my teammate?"

Tala waves a dismissive hand at him. "Relax, we didn't do anything."

"Ray just told us all his worries," Bryan affirms, a mischievous grin appearing on his lips.

Kai raises an eyebrow and turns his attention to his dark haired teammate freaking out in the corner of the room. Stupid neko. By giving all his worries to Bryan and Tala, he just created a crapload of news ones.

Why don't people listen to him?

"Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Oh God," Ray repeats over and over again, still clutching his head in a way that appears that he is fearing that it will explode at any given minute.

"Figures," Kai mutters and then sighs as he turns back to the two Russians. "Leave, I don't think Kon is in the right state of mind at the moment."

"Heh," Tala sniggers. "When he snaps out of it, tell him we'll get to work straight away. First, we need to find the small blond."

"That won't be easy," Bryan says as the two make their leave the same way they came in. "He's like a butterfly, flitters from one spot to another."

Kai watches them leave and turns back to the blader still busy freaking out. "Get your ass into the dinning room downstairs, Kon," he orders. "I think we need to lay down the pros and cons of drinking."

--

Glaring bitterly at the cup of tea sitting idle before him, Ray pouts and mutters darkly under his breath about his rotten luck. "They took advantage of my drunken state."

Kai takes a small sip of his own tea, relishes in the taste before putting the cup back down on its matching saucer. "And who's faults that?" he asks, turning his all knowing eyes to him.

Ray still silently for a moment, still pouting indignantly. After a moment, he lifts his head and tries to give Kai a sad look. "…Mine?"

"Damn straight," Kai replies quickly, the disapproval evident in his voice. "After all, you chose to get drunk, it's not like they poured the drinks down your throat."

Ray gives Kai a sour look, the hang over still raging wildly in his head. "Couldn't you at least pretend to be sympathetic?"

Kai scoffs at the idea and picks up his cup again to take another elegant sip. "Too much trouble."

Still sulking, Ray stares at Kai long and hard for a moment, his lips pressing into a thin line. "You knew, didn't you?"

"Hn."

"You knew about my crush on Mystel?"

Kai takes another sip of his tea and lets his eyes drift close. "Yes."

Ray's frown grows deeper. "You knew that Tala and Bryan was going to ask if I wanted to go drinking with them."

"Uh huh," Kai nods, keeping his eyes shut.

"You knew I wouldn't be able to hold my alcohol," Ray continues to state, his posture slumping forward more and more with each affirmation.

"Yes."

"And you definitely knew that when I had too much to drink I'd spill my guts, didn't you?"

Kai finally peers through one of his eyes. "Oh yeah."

Ray falls against the table with a dull thud and begins to whine pathetically. "What are they going to do to me?"

"That's something you have to find out for yourself," Kai says as he finishes his tea and takes to his feet. "I suggest you lock yourself into your room to get over that hangover of yours, because what's coming for you later on, this hangover will be nothing."

With those parting words, Kai turns on his heel and begins towards the elevator. As he steps inside, a blonde hair Spaniard steps in beside him. As the lift doors close, Miguel turns his attention to Kai, a small smile on his lips and his sapphire blue eyes shimmering with a sense of amusement.

"Hey," he says, gaining himself Kai's attention.

Kai tilts his head to the side in query. "Hmm?"

"I couldn't help overhearing your conversation," Miguel starts delicately, his smile not wavering.

"You don't seem like the type to eavesdrop," Kai says, giving him an accusing look.

"Oh no, nothing like that," Miguel says, immediately jumping to his own defense, raising his hands in front of him in a sign that he means no harm by those words. The friendly look never falters from his handsome face. "I was just passing by. Honest."

Kai continues to stare at him with narrow eyes, before he relents. "Ok. I'll let it slide."

"That's good," Miguel says, relief evident in his voice. "But aren't you being a little too hard on Ray?"

"Don't start on me," Kai snaps harsher than he means too, but with the look of understanding on Miguel's face, he can see the blonde isn't offended. "I told him not to go drinking with Tala and Bryan. And what does he do? Serves him right."

Miguel chuckles softly and nods his head a little, understanding somewhat where Kai is coming from. "Anyway," he shrugs carelessly. "What do you think Bryan and Tala has in mind for Ray and Mystel?"

"I shudder to think," Kai mutters as the lift doors open and he steps out. He turns slightly and notices that Miguel is following him. That surprises him a little, but then he realizes that his team is also rooming on this floor. "But I do know I'm going to be busy for the next couple of days."

"Why's that?" Miguel ask, tilting his head slightly to the side, confusion shimmering in his blue eyes.

"With Tala and Bryan playing match maker, who knows what they're going to put Ray through. And as the captain, I need to look out for my teammates," Kai quickly explains, trying his best to sound like he doesn't care too much.

"Keep telling yourself that," Miguel simply smiles.

Kai snaps his attention to him, a slightly look of annoyance on his face. "What did you say?"

"I'm going to give you a hand," Miguel says.

"Huh?" Kai mutters in surprise, not sure if he heard the Spaniard right.

"Hey," Miguel chuckles as he steps next to Kai and places a friendly hand on his shoulder. "I may not know Tala or Bryan very well, but even I know you're going to have a hard time keeping Ray out of trouble."

Kai looks down on the hand on his shoulder and then back to Miguel's eyes. He sighs after a moment, knowing that the next few days are going to be hectic for him as well. Keeping Ray out of trouble, while Bryan and Tala are trying to get him into trouble isn't going to be easy by any stretch of the imagination. "You're right about that."

"So, you'll let me help?" Miguel asks, his eyes and expression lighting up a little.

"I guess," Kai sighs, not entirely sure why the blonde would want to waste his time hanging around with him for the next few days, but they are suppose to try and mingle with the their fellow bladers. "You, but no one else. I don't think Ray could stand the humiliation."

Miguel gives Kai's shoulder a light squeeze, a sense of tenderness appearing in his expressive eyes. "I knew you cared about him."

Kai bristles at the comment, a light dusting of red appearing on his cheeks. "What?"

Miguel simply laughs, actually looking forward to the days to come.

* * *

Ah, I love picking on my favorite characters, don't I? It's just so much fun!

Please review.


	3. The Mischievous Matchmakers

Reviews: -_glomps; dark-phoenix-4eva, Blaze Queenie, Tenshi of Freedom, Thegoldenlock, sasukoi, Rapunzelle, Dranza the Phoenix Goddess, Petalwhisker X Fireheart, kaitouahiru, dragonfire7654321, pheonix80 and animepie_- Thankies for reviewing! X3

Chapter 3. I hope you have fun reading.

* * *

**The Mischievous Matchmakers**

Still laying in a pathetic heap on the table, Ray moans about how his life can't possibly get any worst. Suddenly, he hears the sound of two chairs on either side of him squeak against the tiled floor and immediately recognizes the terrifying presence of two certain bladers.

Oh, his life is about to get a whole lot worse.

Lifting his head, Ray finds himself peering up with pink eyes at two smirking Russians, no doubt finding a form of amusement with his dilemma. They're going to have so much fun in the coming days.

And Ray most certainly will not.

"Let me die in peace," he murmurs a plea as he lets his head drop to the table once again.

Bryan's smirk simply grows more sadistic and blatantly ignores the disgruntle teen. "Ok, first thing first. We'll start with the basics."

Leaning back in his chair, Tala slings a casual arm over the back of his chair and gazes at Ray with a taunting look in his icy blue eyes. "Yeah. We're going to stuff the two of you in a closet. That always works."

Ray immediately sits up straight, ignoring the way the room spins from the sudden movement and bristles with indignantly. "In books maybe! But we're dealing with real life here."

"Fantasy. Reality," Tala says holding up his hands as if he's weighing up his options. "Same difference. Let's not get technical here."

"It won't work," Ray states as he folds his arms over his chest, a sulky pout on his lips as he turns his head away.

Bryan leans his elbow on the table and rests his chin in the palm of his hand, the smirk never wavering on his lips. "And how do you know it won't?"

Ray glares at him from the corner of his eye. "I just do."

"Not with that kind of negative attitude," Bryan says, flashing a toothy grin at him. "It will work. Be more positive."

"Well," Tala says as he places his hands on the table in front of him and pushes himself to stand on his feet. He leans over the table to get right in Ray's face, a look of a devious wolf taking hold of his expression. "That's what we're going to find out. Let's go."

"Wait," Ray starts when Tala suddenly grabs a hold of his arm and hoists him to his feet. He struggles with the steel like grip on his arm, close to biting his hand. He hisses and carries on like a feral cat trying to get away from going to the pound. "Let go."

"Just act natural," Tala scowls him. "Bryan and I will take care of everything else."

"That's what I'm afraid off." Ray stops struggling and resides himself to his fate. He lets the red haired Russian drag him effortlessly through the surprisingly empty hallways of the hotel.

He can only hope that this won't be too painful.

--

Edging his way over to the adorable blonde as he leans over a fifth story balcony to watch all the people down below, Ray can't help but take a moment to watch the sight before him. Mystel has his upper body hanging over the side of the railing, his legs swinging with little care behind him. And because of this, Ray has a great view of his perky little butt.

It's mesmerizing.

Suddenly Mystel leans back and lands on his feet. He glances over his shoulder and his face immediately brightens cheerfully when he sees Ray behind him. He turns around to greet him. "Hi, Ray! You slept in late today."

"Er," Ray mutters, shaking his head to snap himself out of his usual Mystel induced trance and scratches the back of his neck nervously. "I hate a rough night."

"Oh," Mystel says in concern. "Couldn't sleep?"

"Something like that," Ray replies quickly, glancing over his shoulder, still showing his nerves. "Anyway, I was wondering if you could help me with something?"

"What's that?" Mystel chirps happily.

Ray falters, trying to think up an excuse to get Mystel to walk into a cupboard with him. "I, er, I think I dropped something in the cupboard and since you have pretty eyes, I mean pretty good eye sight, do you think you could give me a hand?"

Mystel smiles brightly and nods, happy to be of some help to the neko, and funnily enough not picking up on Ray's slip up. "Sure. I can do that."

"Great," Ray says with a half smile and begins leading the hyper blonde towards his set destination. Might as well get this over with as there's no point in drawing out the torment longer than necessary.

Reaching the staff linen cupboard that had been pried open with expert precision, thanks to Bryan of course, Mystel happily bounds in and turns his eyes to the floor, resting his hands on his knees.

"What am I looking for?" he asks, taking a moment to glance over his shoulder.

Ray suddenly blanches. He didn't think of that. What can he say? "Well, it's…" he stutters pathetically for a moment while Mystel stares up at him, blinking his sky blue eyes in confusion.

Thankfully, the door behind Ray slams shut, plummeting the two into darkness. Whew. Thank goodness for minor blessings.

"What happened?" Mystel asks, fear in his voice.

Ray sighs and makes a poor attempt to open the door. "I guess the door locked behind us. Don't worry. I'm sure someone will come along and help us out."

Mystel suddenly whimpers and pushes past him, placing his hands on the door and tries to push it open. But it won't budge and he lets out another tiny whimper of fear. "No."

"What's wrong?" Ray asks in alarm.

"It's so small in here," Mystel whimpers, sounding as if he's close to crying. "I can't breath."

Ray places a hand on the blonde's shoulder and can feel him trembling. He leans forward and realizes that he's having trouble breathing. "Mystel?"

--

Leaning casually against the wall and talking idly together, Bryan and Tala look up in time to see the lift doors open and a familiar dual hair blader and a certain blonde hair Spaniard step out. Kai turns his piercing ruby eyes in their direction and makes a beeline to them, his brow knotted in annoyance.

"Where's Ray and Mystel?" he demands as soon as he reaches the two. "What have you two done?"

Tala can't resist the urge to roll his eyes towards the ceiling at Kai's typical motherly behavior. It's gets annoying when all he's trying to do is scheme. "We've locked them in the closet," he replies bluntly.

"I've always wanted to do that," Bryan adds with a grin of his own.

"Locked them in a closet?" Kai repeats, his brow furrowing even more in thought. Suddenly his eyes widen in realization and concern. "Oh god."

"What?" Tala asks with only a small sense of interest.

"Mystel's claustrophobic, you idiots," Kai hisses as his eyes frantically moving up and down the hall at which cupboard he's trapped in. "He's probably hyperventilating right now."

Tala blinks and then shrugs, turning his attention to Bryan next to him. "I suppose that will be a problem, won't it?"

Bryan taps his chin in thought. "I think so."

"Where are they?" Kai once again demands something from them.

Bryan leisurely points down the far end of the hallway with his thumb. A split second later Kai makes a dash towards the only cupboard there. "Oh well," Bryan sighs in bitter disappointment and turns to Tala. "Plan B?"

Tala shrugs. "Mystel is going to take a trip?"

"Exactly," Bryan says and punches his hand into his fist. "This plan should work."

"And if it doesn't, it will still prove to be highly entertaining," Tala says, once again smirking evilly. "For us, at least."

Bryan matches the smirk with one of his own. "Ray is so much fun to pick on, isn't he?"

"You two are evil, you know that?"

The two jump slightly, totally forgetting that Miguel is here too. They turn to him and raises an eyebrow, both mentally wondering why the Spaniard is here, accompanying Kai in the first place. Did they miss something?

"We try," Bryan says, answering Miguel's question.

Miguel simply rolls his eyes at the two and shakes his head. "Anyway, I'm going to help Kai. And don't think I won't tell him about Plan B."

"Tell him," Tala says, daring him to keep his word. "See if we care. It's not like he can stop both of us."

"He's good," Bryan affirms as he folds his arms over his chest and nods. "But he's not that good."

"You can't stop us," Tala says with a smirk as he eyes the blonde suspiciously. "You don't have the amount of experience that Kai has. So you have no chance."

Despite rolling his eyes skyward, Miguel finds himself nodding in agreement. "That is so true. But that doesn't mean I won't try. Even if it just to help Kai out somehow."

Tala raises an eyebrow as he watches the Spaniard step pass them and take the same path Kai took moments earlier. He then turns to Bryan, the corner of his mouth twitching into a smirk. "…You thinking what I'm thinking?"

Bryan returns the grin with one of his own. "Oh, I'm thinking what you're thinking."

Tala folds his arms over his chest and closes his eyes in deep thought. "Things have just got a whole lot more interesting."

"Indeed they have."

--

Ray is about to fly into full panic mode. Mystel is leaning heavily against the door, hyperventilating and shaking uncontrollably. The poor frighten blonde has tears rolling down his cheeks.

Ah! What is he suppose to do?!

"Try and breathe for me, ok?" Ray says as he rubs a soothing hand on his back trying his best to calm him down.

"I can't!" Mystel suddenly cries out, pounding a tiny fist on the door. "It's too small in here. The walls are closing in. I can feel them."

Suddenly the door flies open and Mystel falls forward, but instead of hitting the carpet of the hallway, he lands in someone's arms, who in turn quickly grabs a hold of him and pulls him towards the open balcony.

"Kai!" Mystel cries out in relief and clings desperately onto him as he continues to have difficulty breathing.

"You're ok now," Kai says with a gentle voice as he helps Mystel lean against the railing of the balcony. He rubs his back softly and continues to whisper soothing words to him. "Take long and deep breathes for me, ok? That's it. You're ok."

Ray steps out of the closet, his body slumping forward with frustration and defeat. "Let me guess," he says, as Miguel appears to stand by him. "He's claustrophobic, right?"

"Right," Miguel nods his head, keeping his gaze directly at Kai, a smile of warmth on his lips at how Kai is comforting Mystel. He's a natural at it, he really is. He shakes his head and turns to Ray, unable to stop a flicker of amusement in his eyes at how disgruntle Ray is currently looking. "How long have you two been in there?"

"About ten minutes," Ray estimates.

"Ten minutes too long for Mystel," Miguel comments as he folds his arms over his chest. "Looks like Plan A failed."

"I told them it would," Ray murmurs, not bothering to appear surprised at how Miguel knows about the plans. He's too tired to care. "But they just won't listen."

"Is that why the three of you get along so well?" Kai suddenly hisses over his shoulder before turning back to Mystel and helping him to stand on his own feet.

Ray raises his hands in front of him in surrender. "Ok, ok. My fault."

"Feeling better?" Kai asks Mystel gently.

"I'm fine," Mystel replies softly as he rubs the salty tear trails from his cheeks with the palms of his hands and turns his attention to Ray, a sense of embarrassment and guilt in his expression. "I'm sorry, Ray. I didn't mean to act in such a way."

"Hey, don't worry about it," Ray tells him with a sense of tenderness. "It's not your fault."

Mystel offers a half smile. "It was unfortunate that the door slam shut behind us, wasn't it?"

"Yeah," Ray twitches. "Unfortunate."

* * *

Aw, poor wittle Mystel. He's so cute. -_coos at him for an hour_-

Please review.


	4. Just Along For The Ride

Reviews: Squee, big hugs to; Petalwhisker X Fireheart, sasukoi, dark-phoenix-4eva, Sharingan Fox, Tenshi of Freedom, Thegoldenlock, Blaze Queenie, Rapunzelle, Nameless Little Girl, pheonix80, Kaz-za-15, ShadowYin-Yang and SherryBird for reviewing!

Sowwies for the long wait. Never fear, here's chapter 4! I hope you enjoy!

* * *

**Just Along For The Ride**

"So, they have a plan B, do they?"

Walking in step with the blue hair enigma next to him, Miguel nods. "They said something about Mystel is going to take a trip. Whatever that means."

"Hmmm…," Kai hums with his eyes close as he folds his arms over his chest. "Whatever it is, it doesn't sound good. I better keep an eye on him for a while," he opens his eyes and looks at Miguel. "Could you watch Ray for me?"

"Sure," Miguel smiles brightly, happy to help in some way. "I can do that."

Kai finds himself returning the smile with a warm one of his own. "Thanks for letting me know about the Plan," he says, sincere gratitude in his voice and eyes. "That's a big help."

"I hope I can be of more assistance to you," Miguel replies warmly, his gaze soften into a more tender look.

"So do I," Kai whispers, unaware of a light dusting of red now adorning his porcelain features. He turns his eyes to the path in front of him and drops his arms from his chest to let them swing softly by his sides. Suddenly, his hand brushes against Miguel's and he almost jumps in surprise.

"Sorry," Kai says, still unaware of the blush on his cheeks that has now deepen in color.

"Not a problem," Miguel simply smiles, totally aware of the blush that sits perfectly upon Kai's well defined features. He can't help but think he looks so cute when the red deepens to the same color as his eyes.

Kai smiles softly and turns his gaze forward again. He needs to concentrate at the task at hand, not act all silly towards the blonde hair Adonis next to him. It's going to be hard, especially now that the two of them are working together.

Even though Kai feels somewhat sorry for all the torture Ray is and will be going through, he can't help but feel relieved that neither Russian has found out about his crush on Miguel.

He'd rather go to hell in a hand basket than let those two play matchmaker for him.

-------------------------------------

Ray cruses violently under his breath in his native tongue as the two troublesome and down right _**evil**_ Russians take him by the shoulder and lead him outside. Their first plan of locking Mystel in the cupboard with him failed miserably. How the hell was his suppose to know that Mystel was claustrophobic?

He didn't even get to spend time with Mystel. After Kai pulled him out of the closet he lead him away to a balcony to get his breathing under control. The poor thing was terrified. Whoever said locking people in a closet is a sure fire of getting them together deserves to be shot. Multiple times.

The little blonde-haired cutie is now wandering around outside, hoping the fresh air will calm his nerves somewhat. Kai lead him out there and Miguel followed. As soon as he was left alone, the two fore mentioned Russians pounced, saying they have another idea.

Can this day get any worst?

"Ok, the first plan failed, but that's ok," Bryan says as he loops an arm around Ray's next, leading him forcibly outside in the now mid afternoon air. "Lets try plan B."

It turns out that it can.

"Now this one is sure to work," Tala says with confidence as he shoves his hands into his pockets and slouches his posture forward, looking way too casual.

"Oh, I doubt it," Ray mutters darkly, his eyebrow twitching silently above his left eye.

"Chin up, Kitty," Bryan says as he taps him on the side of the head with his a knuckle. "Things are looking up."

Ray looks up towards the heavens in pray. "Kill me now."

"Ok, here's the plan," Tala says, blatantly ignoring the neko praying for his end to come swiftly. "You take Mystel out for a walk outside and then Bryan and I will follow, waiting for the perfect opportunity to trip the little blonde."

Ray slumps forward in defeat and peers at Tala through the corner of his eye. "Why are you going to make him trip?" he queries, not much liking the sound of the plan so far. As if he wants to frighten the adorable little Egyptian further.

"Because," Bryan starts as he tightens his arms around his neck, making Ray flail his arms out at his sides as his air supply temporary cuts off. "When he falls, you're going to catch him. Hopefully he'll sprain his ankle and you'll have to carry him back to the hotel."

"It works in the movies," Tala says as he shrugs carelessly and indifferent. "Or so I'm told. I've never watched TV."

Ray bristles and violently pulls himself out of Bryan's arm to hiss at Tala, the pupils of his eyes dilating into small slits. "That much is clear because none of the schemes work either!"

"First time for everything," Bryan dismisses him before grabbing him by the collar and dragging him away. "Lets go."

"Why me?" Ray asks the Heaven's above as Bryan effortlessly drags him outside into the sunlight. "This is Karma, isn't it? I'm being punished for not listening to Kai, aren't I?"

"There he is," Bryan says as he suddenly stops, hauling Ray to stand on his own feet and point in the direction in front of him. There, standing at the base of a tree is his blonde hair angel, happily talking away with Enrique and Oliver of the Majestics.

"What are you waiting for?" Tala asks as he pulls a hand out of his pocket to grab Ray's other shoulder and practically throw him forward. "Go."

"I'm going," Ray hisses as he straightens his clothes in a huff. "This is going to be a big disaster. I can feel it in my bones."

"Heh," Bryan sniggers quietly as the dark hair neko walks out of hearing range. "This is going to be fun," he says as he turns to Tala, smirking deviously.

"You got that right," Tala says as a look of mischievousness appears on his expression as well as he glances over his shoulder, spotting two more bladers step out of the lobby and into the sunlight. "And our next victims are right on cue. Let's go."

Straightening his posture as he approaches, Ray plasters a smile onto his face and stops just short of the group. "Hey, do you mind if I speak with Mystel alone for a moment?" he asks the two European bladers politely.

Suddenly, Oliver giggles into his hands and nods slyly. "Sure. I wouldn't want to be in the way." he then loops his arm through one of Enrique's and they begin to walk away. "Let's go, Enrique."

Enrique smiles and sends Ray a wink. "Hey, we'll catch the two of you later."

"Eh?" Ray mutters in confusion, but the two continue to chuckle amongst themselves as they walk away. "What on earth?"

"They're so nice, aren't they?" Mystel says as he bounces a little, a bright smile on his face.

Ray continues to watch the two for a moment, confusion still evident on his face. After a moment he shakes his head and turns his amber colored eyes towards Mystel. "Hey, feeling better?"

A light bashful blush appears on Mystel's cheeks and his rocks on the balls of his feet a couple of times. "Yes, I am. Thank you. I'm sorry about that."

"No need to apologize," Ray says, his smile turning genuine as his eyes glow softly with warmth. "If I knew you were claustrophobic I would never had placed you in a situation like that."

"I'm glad you asked me to help, though," Mystel says softly, looking up at Ray with his baby blue eyes.

"Thanks for trying," Ray says just as soft. Suddenly, he gets a sharp pain in the middle of his back. "Ow!" he yells in surprise and spins around to face the opposite direction, hissing with his hackles up towards a lone bush. There's no doubt in his mind that a certain Russian threw a stone at him as a prompt to stop stalling.

Hey, he's having a nice quiet moment with Mystel and they just ruined it!

"What's wrong?" Mystel asks, tilting his head to the side in concern.

"Er, I have a creak in my back," Ray stutters for a moment before turning back to Mystel. He might as well go with the plan. He doesn't fancy another stone thrown at his back. Besides, it's not like he has much of a choice in the matter.

Why oh why didn't he listen to Kai?

"Do you want to go for a walk?" he finally asks through his inner torment at his hopeless situation. "Hopefully, I can straighten out."

"Sure," Mystel nods, a hint of concern still shimmering in his stunning eyes. He moves to step beside Ray and they begin walking around the grassy confines of the hotel estate. They decide to take to a rocky stair case that leads to a water feature behind the hotel. It's a secluded path, perfect for a little alone time.

"What happened to your back?"

"I have two Russians on it," Ray mumbles under his breath, once again his eye giving a twitch as the image of Tala and Bryan appears in his mind's eye, all mocking and menacing like.

"Huh?"

"It's something I got in Russia a few years ago," Ray explains as he straightens his posture a bit and smiles at the blonde walking next to him. "It comes and goes. I have to keep moving, you know? That sort of thing."

Mystel makes a little understanding noise and nods his head. "Is it painful?"

"It can be," Ray mutters through a forced grin.

Suddenly, a string pulls taut up from the stone steps, fishing line most likely, just as Mystel moves to take another and catches his foot. But instead of falling forward into Ray's waiting arms like he is suppose to, he jumps backwards in surprise, acting upon reflex. As he jumps backwards, he finds himself crashing into someone else.

"Hey!" Kai cries out in surprise, quickly using his own reflexes to push Mystel back to his feet, but is unable to stop himself from losing his balance on the steps and falls backwards. Then he too crashes into someone and they both fall the grass laden ground just off the stone stair case in a tangle of arms and legs.

"Oof," Miguel grunts when Kai lands on his lap, one of his legs slipping in between his, the other brushing past his hip. He immediately lifts his hands and places them on Kai's hips, holding him still so he doesn't hurt himself.

Kai places his hands on Miguel's shoulders, pushing himself up into a sitting position. He finds himself staring straight into Miguel's stunning blue eyes and immediately feels his cheeks heat up as he blushes darkly.

"Are you ok?" Miguel asks, his hands still lingering on Kai's hips.

"Yeah," Kai murmurs before he tries to push himself away from Miguel's warm and inviting body. Then, a sharp pain races up his leg and he falls forward again into Miguel's arms, his hands resting in his chest once again. "Argh," he hisses in discomfort.

"What's wrong?" Miguel asks, concern evident in his voice.

"I think I twisted my ankle," Kai replies, trying to push away again. Miguel suddenly places his hands tightly around his waist and then effortlessly lifts him off of his lap and carefully on the ground next to him. He then moves to kneel beside him, a arm around his shoulders and the other hovering unsure above his injured limb.

"Kai?"

Hearing his name, Kai snaps his head up to find another blonde staring down at him in concern. He glances over Mystel's shoulder, he sees a dark hair youth looking at him with concern, but a hint of annoyance as well.

"I'm so sorry," Mystel apologizes for the umpteenth time today. "Something touched my foot and I jumped back in shock, and I-"

Ah, Kai muses to himself. That's what they meant about taking a trip.

Idiots.

"It's not your fault," Kai cuts him off by raising a hand in front of him, motioning for him to stop talking for a moment. "It was an accident. Don't worry."

"Can you walk?" Miguel suddenly asks beside him.

"I can try," With a bit of help Kai carefully climbs to his feet, not placing too much pressure on his ankle. With Miguel's arm securely around his waist, Kai gingerly takes a step forward on his ankle. Immediately, he winces and falls back against Miguel. "Not for the next few hours at least," he sighs.

"We better get you back to the hotel," Miguel says, a concern edge in his voice. Moving quickly, he tightens his grip around Kai's waist and leans forward to slip an arm under his knees. Then, with very little effort, he hoists the young Phoenix into his arms, holding him up off the ground.

The sudden movement startles Kai and he immediately latches his arms around his neck, subconsciously leaning in closer, a dusting of red darkening upon his features even more. "What are you doing?"

"You said you can't walk on it," Miguel replies, slight amusement in his eyes from the expression of shock on Kai's face. "Don't worry; we'll take the back way. No one will see us."

Finding himself unable to argue, Kai simply nods, subconsciously tightening his grip even more when Miguel carefully starts maneuvering down the stone path. "I'm not too heavy, am I?"

Miguel smiles at him and shakes his head in the negative. "Not even close."

Behind them, Mystel trails quietly behind, still feeling guilty about crashing into Kai which resulted in him twisting his ankle. Behind him, Ray sulks silently at the back.

"I knew it wouldn't work," he mutters to himself.

* * *

Bwahahahahahahaha! X3 Miguel/Kai fluffness!

Please review.


	5. Grief Counseling

Reviews: X3 Big thanks to; ShadowYin-Yang, Petalwhisker X Fireheart, SherryBird, Blaze Queenie, Thegoldenlock, Miguel/kai)lover, Rapunzelle, kit572, Shyki, Tenshi of Freedom, Elle_Chan, Destiny Kitty and Kizzy Bloom for taking the time to review! Loves ya all very much.

Now, for chapter 5. Please enjoy!

* * *

**Grief Counseling **

Night has fallen and the lounge area is quickly filling with bladers from all over the world to mingle together and talk about their day's activities. Ray plans to do the same, but he won't be speaking fondly of the memories like the rest of his fellow bladers.

Oh no, he's a tad annoyed.

Today was a complete disaster! First he woke up after midday, completely missing out on breakfast and lunch, only to have Kai break into his room to yell at him. And then two Russians following soon after to tell him that they're going to play matchmaker for him and Mystel. A great start to the day.

Wait, it only gets better. The second horror that happened today was allowing Tala and Bryan talk him into following one of their totally out there idea. He spent ten minutes locked in a cupboard with Mystel, who was breathless. But not for the reason Ray had intended. He was claustrophobic and unable to breathe because he was so scared.

Third, and the Blitz boys second plan of the day, he managed to talk Mystel into going for a walk with him in an attempt to spend some alone time together. The plan was that Mystel would trip fall into Ray's waiting arms and they would have a fluffy moment together. Instead, Mystel jumped backwards, bumping into Kai who ended up twisting his ankle and Miguel had to carry him back.

Oh, there was a fluffy moment. Just not between Mystel and himself.

Making his way through the obstacle course, Ray makes a beeline straight towards a certain table that has two certain Russians sniggering about certain events that happened today. Oh, they are having way too much fun.

"I told you that the plan wouldn't work!" Ray hisses as he slams his hands down on the table, watching through a twitching eye as Bryan and Tala simply grab a hold of their drinks without spilling a drop of the precious liquid.

Tala shrugs and takes a sip of his alcoholic drink, his eyes half lidded in disinterest. "Well, at least it worked for someone."

"Gotta give us credit for that," Bryan says with a nod of his head.

Ray immediately bristles like a feral cat. "No, I don't!" he hisses.

Tala shrugs again and puts his drink down. He opens his jacket and reaches for the inside pocket, pulling out a piece of white paper. He unfolds it and seems to run his finger down a list. "Ok, next plan," he says.

"Oh no," Ray groans as he drops his head.

"Pottery."

Ray snaps his head back up, his expression knotting in confusion. "Pottery?"

"Yeah," Bryan says as he reaches across the table to grab a handful of salted nuts and pops a few of them into his mouth. "Have you seen the movie Ghost?"

"Ghost?" Ray repeats, still swimming around in a haze of confusion. It's that movie where Whoopi Goldberg played a psychic, isn't it? "I think so."

"I haven't," Bryan shrugs as he pops another salted snack into his mouth. "But apparently there was a scene involving the main couple bonding over a pottery wheel or something like that. We got a list of some of the most romantic things in movies from Oliver."

"He's such a sap," Tala comments with a nod as he folds the paper in half and returns it back to his breast pocket.

"He's involved in this, too?!" Ray cries out in alarm as he leans over the table and glares at the two offending Russians.

"Not exactly," Bryan says, looking at him blankly. "All he knows is that we're trying to hook someone up and that it involves you and Mystel."

"We didn't give everything away," Tala mutters as he waves a dismissive hand at him.

"Didn't give everything away?" Ray repeats, indignant, his eyes narrowing and a long, sharp fang appears, glistening in the artificial light. "It won't take a rocket science to figure that you're trying to get the two of us together!"

Bryan blinks his emerald greens eyes for a moment before turning an almost bored gaze towards him. "I guess so."

Tala leans his elbow on the table and rests his chin in his hand as he returns the gaze with a bored one of his own. "Silly us."

"Argh!" Ray yells as he throws his arms into the air. "No wonder he's been giggling at me for most of the day. And Enrique probably knows, too!"

"That's a strong possibility."

"Argh! I hate you!" Ray howls in disgust and hisses at the two before sulking off, his profile tense and disgruntle. He pushes past a group of bladers who wisely let him past without question. Except for one. Spencer leans against the bar, talking with the German nobleman. He pauses for a moment to regard the Chinese blader with an eyebrow reaching towards his hairline.

"Hey, Kon," Spencer greets as the teen stalks past.

Ray whips around and hisses at him. "Don't come near me! I forbid anymore Russians to come within ten feet of me!"

Spencer blinks as Robert reels back in surprise. He watches in silence as the teen stalks away. The two bladers share a look of confusion before they start conversing again, no doubt talking about Ray's strange behavior and Spencer having an idea why.

"Well," Bryan murmurs, the corner of his mouth twitching into a half smirk after watching the sudden outburst. "That was rude."

"Tell me about it," Tala replies as he lifts his chin up off his hand and sighs dramatically. "And after everything we've done for him."

"I know," Bryan also sighs mockingly and takes a hold of his drink. "Some people you just can't help."

The two tap their glasses together as they smirk and take a swig of their drinks. Suddenly, Kai appears behind them and belts the two of them on the back of the head with his hands, causing them to spit out their drinks in surprise.

"What was that for?" Tala snarls through the coughs and splutters.

Leaning against the table for support, Kai glares daggers at them. "I was about to kick your ass, but for obvious reasons, I can't," he says and points down at his ankle that now has a thick white bandage wound tightly around it.

Miguel appears behind Kai and places a hand on the small of his back to offer him some physical support. "So that was plan B?" he asks, raising an eyebrow at the two.

Bryan wipes his mouth with the back of his sleeve. "Yeah, pretty much."

Kai pushes away from the table and leans back against Miguel as he folds his arms over his chest and scowls. He isn't conscious about the fact that the two of them look quite cozy together and would easily be mistaken for a couple. "You two are merely having fun at Ray's expense."

"And we never said otherwise," Tala says, his usual wolf like smirk appearing on his lips.

"Hey, Ray can back out whenever he wants," Bryan says.

Kai raises an eyebrow in skepticism and eyes the vacant chair. "I see he's not drinking with the two of you. He must have learnt his lesson from last time."

"He was here."

Kai sighs and rolls his eyes in annoyance. "I see."

"Come on, Kai," Miguel says suddenly as he places an arm around his waist, pulling him a little closer towards him. "Let's go."

Kai tilts his head back to look up at him, blinking his wine red eyes in confusion. "Where?"

Miguel smiles gently down at him, keeping a strong, yet tender arm around his waist. "You need to keep off that ankle for the night if you want to keep up with Ray and the duo's schemes," he explains.

"That's true," Kai confirms as he turns slightly to face him. "But the others-?"

"Can take care of themselves for one night," Miguel cuts him off with a stern, yet oddly gentle gaze. "Come on, I'll walk you to your room."

Kai feels a light heating sensation on his cheeks as Miguel squeezes him around the middle and begin to lead him away. It appears that Miguel won't take no for an answer, and for his part, Kai cannot find it within himself to protest.

"You don't have to do that," he says as his subconsciously sinks against him for support.

"I want to," Miguel smiles at him and Kai is unable to stop himself from smiling softly back.

"Ok," he whispers and the two walk away, seemingly lost in each other.

Unnervingly quiet, Tala and Bryan blink at the two and then share a sly look across the table. "Do you think they know we're here?" Tala asks.

"Doesn't look like it."

-------------------------------------

Grumbling darkly under his breath, Ray takes another large swig of his drink and slams it on the table, his eyebrow twitching violently. "Bloody Russians."

"Hey, Ray," Michael greets as he slides into a chair next to him, eyeing off the drink in his hand in slight surprise. "I didn't know you drink."

"I need to destroy some brain cells," Ray murmurs as he takes another swig.

Michael blinks slowly for a moment before tilting his head to the side. "Why do you want to do that?"

"Because I've had a shitty day."

"Drinking your troubles away won't help," Michael says as he shakes his head in disapproval. He thought Ray was smarter than that.

Ray snaps his attention to him, his eyes narrowing dangerously and his nose scrunching up in annoyance. "Don't you think I know that?"

"Then why are you?"

"Because I'm a loser!" Ray cries out and hits his head on the table with a loud and seemingly hollow thunk. He stays still for a few long moments and Michael begins to wonder if the teen has passed out or something.

"You're drunk," Michael says, giving the teen a poke. "I better go get Kai."

"No!" Ray snaps, sitting straight up and appearing incredibly disgruntle. His hair is sticking out in all directions, his eyes seem to have black bags under his eyes and he permanently has a frown on his face that has a fang glistening in the light.

"I don't want him hear saying I told you so," he hisses, tapping the table violently with his index finger at the last few words. "Know-it-all prick!" he curses and then thumps his head on the table again, clutching at it with his hands.

"Stop that," Michael scowls lightly and then sighs, folding his arms carefully on the table. "Are you worried about Kai or Mystel?"

Ray rolls his head to the side and peer wearily up at him. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I heard that Kai twisted his ankle today because Mystel crashed into him," Michael explains. "I also heard that Mystel had a panic attack after being accidentally locked in a closet here in the hotel."

Ray feels his eyebrow give another twitch. "Gossip doesn't waste any time around here, does it?"

"You were there for the both of them. Are those the reasons why you're in such a bad mood?" Michael asks, his visible eye blinking slowly in question.

"You could say that," Ray murmurs.

"You shouldn't worry too much," Michael says, happy with the response and leans across the table to pat the teen on the head. "I saw Kai walking around earlier. Miguel was helping him out. And Mystel is pretty much back to his bubbly self."

"Hey, Mikey!" Another voice shouts across the room. "Steve wants to know if you're interested in a game of poker?"

Michael suddenly snorts loudly and then grimaces. He turns slightly in his seat and waits as Rick meanders his way through the room to make his way over to where he is. "Only if it isn't strip poker."

Rick barks out a laugh. "After the amount he had to drink tonight, it's most likely."

"Then I'm not interested," Michael grimaces again. "The last thing I want to see again is him stumbling around the hotel completely naked."

"Made for some good blackmail," Rick smirks as he grabs a seat next to him and sits down, raising an eyebrow at the Chinese blader for a moment before turning back to his younger teammate.

"Yes, but I was left scarred for life," Michael points out. "And that's why I don't drink. You do some crazy stuff when you're drunk."

Ray slowly and apparently painfully lifts his head up and glares at his still half full glass of alcohol. "Tell me about it," he murmurs as he pushes away. He then places his hands on the table and staggers to his feet. Lacking his usual grace, Ray then turns around and heads towards the exit, making a silent vow never to drink again.

Especially in the company of two certain Russians.

Walking -staggering- to his room, Ray mentally prepares himself for the horror and torment that is to come tomorrow. Sleep won't come easy tonight.

Pottery, huh? This won't end well.

* * *

Ah, the wonders of alcohol. As a non-alcoholic drinker, I've seen some of the craziness people do when they're smashed. And I tell ya, it ain't pretty.

Please review.


	6. I Got Up This Morning For This?

Reviews: A wonderful thanks and a Merry Christmas to; Petalwhisker X Fireheart, SherryBird, Tenshi of Freedom, Thegoldenlock, Rapunzelle, ShadowYin-Yang, kaitouahiru, Blaze Queenie, grimnessreaper and kuteluver!

Hello again! I hope everyone is having a safe and happy holiday, and I hope you enjoy chapter 6 of this little fic X3 Have fun reading!

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**I Got Up This Morning For This?**

Rolling over in his bed, Kai slips an arm under his pillow and nuzzles his cheek against the soft fabric. He must admit, only to himself of course, he prefers staying at hotels, especially with a room all to himself. Why? Simple; he can sleep in and lock the door tightly so no can barge in.

Who ever invented locks is a genius.

Although, there is one person he doesn't mind barging into his room whenever he wants.

Miguel, being the caring -and hot!- gentleman that he is, walked Kai back to his room last night, keeping a gentle and constant arm around his shoulders. It felt nice, having Miguel near him and fussing over him. He doesn't really like being the centre of attention like a few of his fellow bladers, but the attention he receives from Miguel is different. He likes it.

He thought it was sweet of Miguel to not only help him to his room, but stay behind to strap up his ankle. He did a wonderful job. It doesn't hurt anymore. They spent a few hours simply talking casually, talking about everything and yet nothing at the same time.

Kai can't help but smile softly as he nuzzles his pillow. He is remembering the moment Miguel effortlessly picked up him into his arms and carried him inside, making sure no one saw a thing. He never expected the Spaniard to do something like that, but he isn't complaining.

It felt nice, being in his arms like that.

A sudden noise jolts Kai into full consciousness and he lifts his head up to glance around the room with bleary eyes.

"What the hell?" he mutters before groaning and dropping his head back down onto the pillow. He pulls the blankets up over his shoulders, intending to fall back to sleep, but the sound of a familiar voice drifts in and startles him awake once again.

"Pottery!"

"Pottery?" Kai repeats as he rolls onto his stomach, one arm hanging over the side of the bed. With much effort, he pushes himself up and glares at the wall that connects his room to Ray's. "Is that the scheming duo's next plan?" he mutters to himself as he rubs his eyes with the hand.

"I don't know a thing about pottery!"

Kai slips his legs over the side of the bed and sits up, still rubbing his eyes. "And he doesn't know a thing about shutting up, does he?"

In the next room, Ray continues to rant and rave loudly and blatantly disregarding anyone else. "What am I suppose to do!"

"God dammit, Ray!" Kai snarls as he pounds his fist heavily on the wall. "Shut up! I'm trying to sleep!"

"I'm busy freaking here, Kai!" Ray growls back, sounding a little louder than before, no doubt moving closer to the obstacle between them. "This is all your fault."

Kai blinks slowly, and then notably bristles. He climbs to his feet and glares hatefully at the wall. "…_**Excuse**_ me?" he snarls dangerously, his eyebrow twitching slowly, yet violently. "How the hell is this my fault?"

On the other side of the wall, Ray folds his arms over his chest as he leans defiantly against the wall. "You told me to try and get along with Tala and Bryan."

"Get along with, not go out and get smashed together," Kai retorts. "I warned you about them. It's not my fault you had a lapse of sanity and told them that you have a crush on Mystel, now is it? Blaming me isn't helping your situation any."

"Yes it is," Ray replies hotly. "It's making me feel better."

"I'll make you feel some pain in a minute," Kai threatens and pounds his fist on the wall once again. Suddenly, there is a small cracking noise. "Huh?" he looks down and notices a small opening in the wall. He pulls away some of the plaster and realizes that he can see straight through into Ray's room. He can see the sulking neko standing inches before the wall, pouting.

"There's a hole in the wall?" Kai mutters to himself, wondering how a posh hotel like this place could miss such a thing. He peers through the hole to see Ray huff and turn his back on his. The temptation to grab that infuriating pony tail and strangle him with it is almost too much.

"Hmm…?" he hums to himself as he slowly begins to make the hole bigger. He can almost get his hand through…

"As if I'm going to blame myself, Kai," Ray continues to sulk in his room.

"What was that?" Kai mutters as he silently widens the hole. "I can't hear you. Come a little closer to the wall."

Ray seems to bristle at the command. "I said-"

Just then, Kai manages to get the hole big enough to punches his hand through quite suddenly and grabs a hold of Ray's hair, pulling it painfully into his room. Ray lets out a girlish scream and immediately grabs a hold of his hair, resulting in a tug-o-war between the two of them in separate rooms.

"I dare you to say that again," Kai hisses as he pulls a little tighter.

"Did you just punch a hole in the wall?!" Ray cries out in alarm.

"There was already a hole," Kai informs him, keeping a firm grip on his hair. "I just increased it a little. Now, apologize and say none of this is my fault. If you have to blame someone, blame yourself."

"Alright, I'm sorry!" Ray says loudly with a hint of desperation in his voice. "None of this is your fault. It's all mine. I'm the idiot who got drunk with Bryan and Tala after you told me not to. It's all me."

"Good," Kai says as he finally let's go of his hair and folds his arms over his chest in a disapproving way. "That wasn't so bad, now was it?"

"Easy for you to say," Ray mutters as he strokes the end of his hair tenderly. He then turns a narrow gaze at the hole. He cautiously moves forward to peek through. He can see Kai is now sitting on his bed, facing the wall, rubbing the sleep out of his right eye with a fisted hand. Through this little peep hole he can see the majority of Kai's room and all of his bed. There's no doubt that Kai will cover this hole up later.

If he remembers, of course.

"You certainly know how to pull someone out of their pool of self denial, don't you?" Ray says to him after a moment, still patting his hair.

Kai rolls his eyes towards the ceiling and shakes his head. "I'm going back to sleep," he announces, falling back into his bed and slipping under the blankets. "I appreciate it if you continue your ranting and raving elsewhere."

Ray pouts. He wasn't ranting and raving. He was just expressing himself rather loudly. He suddenly remembers something and peers through the hole again. "Hey."

Kai rolls over onto his side, facing the hole in the wall. "What is it now?"

"How's your ankle?" Ray asks, with genuine concern.

"It's fine," Kai replies quickly, sitting up slightly and pulls back to the blankets to reveal his bandaged ankle. "Miguel strapped it up for me last night. It's much better now."

Ray blinks in surprise. He wasn't able to walk on it yesterday and now it's perfectly fine? "You heal pretty quickly, don't you?" he says in slightly awe, wishing he could heal just as fast.

"I have to," Kai says plainly, pulling the blankets back over him and settling back down. "After all, no one else is able to keep up with you lot and the blitzkrieg boys as well."

Ray can't help but let a sly smile appear on his lips. "Miguel seems to be pretty good at keeping up with you."

Kai immediately blushes a dark shade or red and promptly rolls over, turning his back on him. "Go back to sleep, Kon," he orders. "From all that ranting and raving you did earlier, it must mean you have a big day ahead of you."

"Don't remind me," Ray mutters as he resists the urge to let his head make a painful union with the wall in front of him. He sighs and slumps his back against the wall.

"So," Kai says as he peers over his shoulder. "Pottery?"

"Yeah," Ray again mutters under his breath, his face knotting into a look of disgust. "Apparently Oliver gave them an idea."

"Oliver?" Kai murmurs, sitting up slightly in bed, an expression of confusion on his face. "He's in this too?"

"Not exactly," Ray explains with a wry smile. "He's just giving the two ideas."

"Ouch," Kai winces visibly before lying back down in his bed. "Not good."

"Don't get me started."

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Popping his head through his open door, Spencer takes a large step and stands out in the empty hallways. He looks up and down the corridor, looking with his sea green eyes and listening carefully with his sharp ears.

The sound of someone yelling something at the top of their lungs awoken him from his slumber, hence the reason why he's only wearing a pair of track pants and looking with sleepy eyes at his surroundings.

Suddenly, he hears the sound of someone banging their fist on the wall and the muffle sound of someone yelling. He recognizes the voice to be none other than Kai's and he's yelling something at Ray. Through the wall.

"So, that's what the noise was," Spencer mutters under his breath, eyeing off the door to Kai's room, slightly weary. Despite popular belief, Kai hates getting up early. The only reason he gets up before everyone else is so he doesn't bite everyone's heads off.

Isn't he considerate?

He shakes his head in disbelief as the two continue to talk -fight- through the wall. The words are ineligible, but he can assume what the conversation is about. What Tala and Bryan has planned for Ray, no doubt.

Spencer turns to walk back into his own room when an icy cold chill takes to the air. A chill that tells him that Ray said something to piss off Kai.

"…_**Excuse **_me?"

Spencer finds himself wincing. He was right. He could hear the words perfectly and just about see the large drops of poisonous venom dripping off each letter. More words are exchanged through the wall and then there is this loud crack and Ray releases a high pitch scream of fright.

"Did you just punch a hole in the wall?!"

Oh, he's pissed off alright.

Shaking his head again, Spencer decides it's time to head back into his own room and forget about the whole thing. Locking the door tightly behind him, he is unable to stop a small smile of amusement from appearing on his lips.

He has to admit. He has the most amusing teammates ever. Nothing is dull with this lot around.

"Did you find the source of the noise?"

Turning to the bed, Spencer's smile turns more sincere as he watches a certain purple hair nobleman push himself up into a sitting position and run a hand through his bed messy hair. The night shirt that he is wearing is a size too big and promptly slips off his shoulder. Robert yawns cutely into his hand and rubs at his eyes with the palm of his other.

He looks so precious.

The two of them spend most of the night talking, discussing matters of important nature, and not so important. After becoming bored of just talking, the two shared a surprised kiss. And then another. And after that, there weren't any more surprised kisses, only intentional ones.

Robert agreed to accompany Spencer back to his room, but insisted that the two didn't take things too far. Spencer respected Robert's decision and made sure not to get too carried away. They simply spent the night trading kisses before falling asleep in each other's arms.

"It was just Kai and Ray yelling at each other," Spencer explains as he walks over to the bed and slips underneath the covers, quickly pulling Robert down to lay against his chest.

"Out in the hallway?" Robert asks as he settles down.

"Through the wall of their bedroom," Spencer can help but smirk.

Robert immediately lifts his head up to look in disbelief upon Spencer's face. "You're kidding? What were they fighting about?"

Spencer lifts up an arm and places it casual behind his head, placing a firm arm around Robert's waist. "Not sure, but Ray said something to annoy Kai. So much so that he punched a hole in the wall."

"I beg your pardon. He did what?"

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X3 Kai is not a morning person. Silly Ray for placing the blame on Kai, especially first thing in the morning.

Please review.


	7. A Very Simple Scheme

Reviews: Thanks so much to; Thegoldenlock, StunningGhost, Destiny Kitty, kuteluver, SherryBird, Rapunzelle, Petalwhisker, the Light Shadow, Blaze Queenie, Tenshi of Freedom, Nameless Little Girl, grimnessreaper and kaitouahiru for reviewing!

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**A Very Simple Scheme**

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Ray whines, feeling as if he's being frog marched to certain doom standing in between his two beasts of burden.

Aka, Bryan and Tala.

Currently, the two are leading him towards a an apartment complex in the middle of New York City, saying that they have booked out a loft like room there where they normally conduct art classes for artists and wannabe artists. Oliver gave them the number and booked it out so only Ray and Mystel will be there.

Why, Oliver? Why? What has Ray even done to you?

"Lighten up," Bryan says as he slaps the neko hard on the back, making him stumble forward in his steps. "It'll be fun."

"That's easy for you to say," Ray grumbles under his breath as he rubs his shoulder with his hand, the sharp pain from the slap still lingering.

"You better get with it," Tala warns as he lifts hp his wrist to glance at his watch. "Mystel is on his way. I left him a message."

Ray roughly blows a strand of rebellious hair from his eyes. "Oh goodie."

"That's the spirit," Tala says, smiling a little too slyly for Ray's liken.

"I was being sarcastic," he quickly snaps, glaring at him with feline eyes.

Tala simply nods his head, the grin still in place. "And so was I. Now, get in there."

He takes Ray by the shoulder and practically throws him head first into the room. He slams the door shut behind him, pausing for a moment before opening it a crack and peering inside. Bryan leans over his and takes a look inside. Mystel is leaning against the window, looking down at the people in the streets below. Ray steps up behind him and they begin to talk, Ray stuttering once in a while when Mystel asks him a difficult question.

Tala smirks as he closes the door to stand up straight, immediately sharing a look with Bryan. Bryan smirks as well and moves to retrieve a bag leaning up against the wall beside the door.

"Does Oliver know what to do?" Tala asks.

Bryan nods his head and digs around in the bag for a moment, before pulling out a large snowball size lump of clay wrapped in clear wrap. "Don't worry. He'll direct Kai here."

"Good," Tala sniggers as he watches Bryan carefully unwrap the clay. Everything is going perfectly to plan. Oliver knows what to do, and knowing how much of a romantic he is, will make sure the plan goes off without a hitch.

Their plan is a simple one. They have no intention of letting Mystel and Ray reenact the famous Ghost scene. They're basically just an excuse to get Kai here. And where Kai goes, Miguel is likely to follow.

"Five bucks says I can get Ray on the back of the head," Bryan says as he opens the door a crack and lines up his shot.

"You're on," Tala laughs and watches with sadistic anticipation as Bryan lobs the ball of clay directly at Ray.

Smack! The clay-ball hits its target head on. Ray immediately whips around, demanding who threw that. Mystel denies everything, so all Ray can do is huff and pout to himself, knowing fully well who threw the clay snowball. But before he has a chance to secretly yell at his two interfering Russian tormentors, Bryan grabs a much smaller clay-ball and lobs it at Mystel. Mystel immediately demands to know why Ray did that. Ray denies any involvement, but soon the two are engaging themselves into a clay slinging match of their own.

Tala can help but smirk wolf like as bits and pieces of clay fly around the room and stick to whatever it lands on.

Who knew playing matchmaker could be so much fun?

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"Where the hell have they gone?" Kai mutters to himself after having just searched every square inch of the hotel. He knows that the scheming Duo's plan has something to do with pottery, he just doesn't know where they're planning to conduct this matchmaking plot.

"Kai!"

Pausing mid step, Kai glances over his shoulder towards the familiar voice and raises an eyebrow in question when he sees Oliver jogging towards him. "Oliver," he greets as the teen stands before him.

"Are you searching for Ray?" he asks, a polite smile appearing upon his features.

"That I am," Kai replies, a hint of suspicion in his voice, his eyes narrowing a little. "You know where he is?"

"Uh huh," Oliver nods, his smile never wavering. He places his hand into his jacket pocket and pulls out a small piece of white paper. "You can find them here," he says, pointing to the address on the paper.

Kai takes the piece of paper as he nods his thanks. He quickly turns on his heel and races down the hallway and punching the lift button, mentally cursing it for taking so long.

Oliver watches silently as Kai disappears from sight before he giggles into his hand. He reaches into his other pocket and pulls out a sleek and expensive mobile phone. He taps at the keys, sending a text message to Tala's mobile, warning him of Kai's impending arrival. He gets a message back saying that everything is in order.

"One down," Oliver giggles to himself. "One to go. Now, where's Miguel?"

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"Oh, dear god," Kai says as he eyes his surroundings. He followed the direction Oliver had given him and finds himself standing in the middle of a loft that seemed to have been hit by a bomb. A bomb made out of clay. "This place is a mess. What were those two doing?"

He runs a hand through his hair, wondering what he should do. This place looks like an art studio, so there's a chance that this place holds classes every now and again. "I guess I should probably try to clean some of this up," Kai sighs, not really looking forward to the prospect of cleaning up all the clay.

"Need a hand?"

Kai practically jumps out of his skin at the new voice. "Miguel?" he says as he whips around to see the figure of a gorgeous blonde leaning casually against the door frame. "You don't have to."

"I don't have to do a lot of things," Miguel says as he pushes away from the door, smiling brightly. "But I do want to help you in some way."

"Thank you. I appreciate it," Kai replies, a small smile of his own on his lips. "But surely, you must have better things to do?"

Miguel sends him a charming look. "What could be better than helping you out?"

Kai immediately blushes at the question and smiles shyly. "That's nice of you to say that. But-"

Miguel suddenly cross the room to stand before Kai and presses a finger to his lips. "But nothing. I'm helping and that's finally."

"Ok," Kai manages to squeak out, if at all possible, his blush darkening another shade.

Resisting the urge to cup the side of Kai's face at how adorably cute Kai is acting, Miguel smiles and drops his hand. He heads towards a cupboard, in search of some cleaning supplies. Lucky on his guess, Miguel finds a broom and a couple dust pans and brushes. Handing Kai his cleaning equipment, the two dive straight into the task at hand. They don't plan to clean the room spotless, but enough so it no longer looks like a bomb site.

Miguel glances over his shoulder, pausing in his actions to watch with a discreet gaze as Kai continues to work. He can't help but let his gaze wander for a moment, taking in every inch of Kai's lean and slender profile.

He's an absolutely gorgeous angel, so can anyone really blame him for staring?

"What?" Kai asks, after finding Miguel staring at him, blinking his wine red eyes at him.

Miguel suddenly shakes his head, looking as if he was in some sort of a trance and smiles softly. "You have something on your cheek," he says after a moment.

Kai blinks, than rolls his eyes towards the ceiling. "Yeah, two blue triangles."

"Beside those," Miguel laughs as he leans the broom up against the wall and crosses the room to stand before him. "It's just a bit of clay."

"Oh," Kai says in surprise, his hand hovering above his cheek. "Where?"

"I'll get it," Miguel says as he suddenly lifts up his hand gently wipes it away with his fingers, letting his touch linger for a moment, relishing in the soft and silky smooth feel of his skin, before pulling away. "There."

"Thank you," Kai finds himself whispering, disappointment at the loss of Miguel's touch appearing in his chest. He peers up at Miguel through his veil of stormy gray hair, a small smile suddenly appearing on his lips. "Oh, you have some on your face as well."

"Do I?"

"Yes, some right here," Kai says as he suddenly places a small drop of clay on the top of his nose and pulls back laughing softly when Miguel wriggles his nose. "It suits you."

"We'll see about that," Miguel says with a teasing smile. He rubs the clay of his nose with the back of his hand and then leans forward and grabs a hand full of clay.

"Don't you dare," Kai warns as he takes a couple of steps back.

"Is that a threat?" Miguel asks as he raises an eyebrow.

"It will be."

Kai grabs a hand full of clay as well, molding it into a ball in his two hands. He threatens to throw it at Miguel, but Miguel manages to step to the side and ends up behind him. He comes up and grabs him from behind, wrapping his arms around Kai's slender fame and placing his hands on the snowball size clay object.

"You can't throw it now," Miguel tells him, speaking softly into his ear.

Despite the burning blush on his face, Kai finds himself laughing softly and he begins to struggle in Miguel's arms. "Let go," he playfully demands.

"Don't think so," Miguel replies, humor also in his voice. He drops one of his hands from the clay ball to Kai's waist, hoping to get a better hold of him. He manages to unwilling poke Kai in the side, earning him a little squeak from Kai and he begins to squirm even more.

Miguel blinks, a smile spreading across his lips. "Are you ticklish?"

"No," Kai quickly replies, but ends up making another little noise when Miguel pokes him again. "Stop it!"

"You are ticklish," Miguel states, dropping his other hand to Kai's waist as well, still holding him up against his back.

"Don't you dare," Kai warns, but Miguel doesn't pay him any attention and begins to tickle his sides. Kai immediately drops the clay to the floor with a low thud and places his hands over Miguel's desperately trying to squirm out of his grasp. He starts to make noises that are a cross between squeaks and chuckles of laughter.

"Stop it!" Kai demands through the laughter, wriggling uncontrollably in Miguel's arms. "Let go!"

Miguel finally stops tickling, but keeps a firm grip around him, keeping him close as Kai takes in deep breaths of air, wiping hastily at his eyes to rid himself of the tears of laughter that have made trails down his cheeks.

"You better not tell a soul about this," Kai warns, his chest and stomach hurting from laughing long and hard.

"About what?" Miguel asks, a playful smile on his lips. "The fact that you're ticklish? Or the fact that I made you laugh so hard that you cried?"

"I didn't cry," Kai replies quickly, still rubbing at his eyes.

"So, you're wiping sleep from your eyes?" Miguel says as he chuckles and grabs at his hands to stop him from brushing away anymore evidence.

Kai blushes lightly. "I'm…shut up."

Miguel laughs and reluctantly removes his arms, taking a small step backwards to give Kai some room. "Who knew pottery could be so much fun?"

"And messy," Kai mutters as he brushes off a lump of clay from his pants. "Let's go get cleaned up before anyone asks any questions."

"Ok."

Unbeknownst to the two, Bryan pops his head in for a split second before disappearing, softly closing the door behind him. "It's not quite like Ghost, but it will do."

"Personally, I think it went better than we planned," Tala says as he folds his arms over his chest and shrugs carelessly.

"Do you think Ray will be pissed when he finds out?" Bryan asks as he grabs the bag and the two make a silent, but hasty exit.

"There's no doubt," Tala says, a wolfy grin returning to his lips. "If he works it out."

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Matchmaking in a lot of fun, isn't it? X3 Especially if its Blitzkrieg style!

Please review.


	8. The Matchmakers' Plan

Reviews: X3 Big thanks to everyone who reviewed! –_glomps; dragonfire7654321, Petalwhisker X Fireheart, DarkBombayAngel, SherryBird, the Light Shadow, Tenshi of Freedom, Rapunzelle, grimnessreaper, Blaze Queenie and kaitouahiru-_

And here's chapter 8. I hope you enjoy!

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**The Matchmakers' Plan**

Stepping out of the bathroom and scrubbing furiously at his hair to rid himself of the last remains of the clay fight he had earlier that day, Ray mutters darkly under his breath, pulling his lips into a deep frown. "Goddamn Russians."

He still can't quite believe that he was clobbered by a ball of clay to the back of his head. He's pretty certain he knows who the culprit was; Bryan. No doubt about that. He has to be him. Ray was supposed to reenact the scene from Ghost, but there was no huge and messy clay fight in Ghost.

What on earth has Oliver being telling these two stupid Russians?

Ripping the damp towel from his head, Ray growls as he tries his best to somewhat control his bangs a little. Right now, his wayward hair is sticking out in all sorts of directions. Better than any hair styling product could do.

"I'll kill 'em," Ray growls as he clutches the towel tightly in his hands, his knuckles turning white from the pressure.

Suddenly, he hears the sound of a door opening and realizes that Kai must be returning to his room from…whatever it was he's been doing. He tilts his head to the side when he hears another voice. It's a deep and familiar voice, and after a bit of thought he realizes that it must be Miguel. The two share a few words and even a few laughs, immediately gaining Ray's curiosity.

"Hmm?" he hums and silently walks over to the hole in the wall that hasn't been boarded up yet and peers through.

"Yeah," Kai says as he leans against his door, a suspicious blush on his face and he smiles softly. He has his scarf and jacket under his arm, the items appearing to be covered in a dirty substance. The same substance covering parts of Kai's pale skin.

Standing in the door way, Miguel too is lacking his overlaying jacket. He has light brown smudges on his face and arms as well, his hair in a state of disarray. Even so, he has a bright smile on his face, his eyes shimmering with a sense of happiness.

"I'll see you later at dinner," Kai says, giving a small nod with his head, pushing away from the door.

"Until then," Miguel confirms, his smile not wavering in the slightest. "Bye."

"Bye," Kai answers softly. The two stare into each other's eyes for a moment, both reluctant to be the first to look away, but knowing that they must, they break contact at the same time. They share a brief and shy smile before Miguel turns on his heel and heads towards his room at the other end of the hotel. Kai watches him until he disappears from his line of vision, before sighing and closing the door softly, the tender smile still gracing his lips.

Ray continues to peer through the hole in the wall, his eyebrow arching towards his hairline in question. "What the hell happened to you, Kai?" he asks, successfully snapping Kai out of his daze like state.

"Ray!" Kai yelps, dropping his articles of clothing to the floor, his eyes widening in surprise. "Don't peek through the hole, you peeping tom!"

Ray chooses to ignore Kai's discomfort, the need for answers is too great for him to ignore. "Well?"

"Well, what?" Kai asks as he picks up the fallen articles, picking off some of the harden clay.

"You didn't answer my question," Ray says. "What happened to you?"

"I was cleaning up the mess you left behind," Kai replies with a roll of his eyes. He walks over to his bed and sits down on the edge, facing the hole so he can communicate with Ray on the other side of the wall. "I take it the plan didn't succeed?"

Ray releases a loud and undignified snort as he folds his arms over his chest. "How'd you guess?"

Kai folds the clothes on his knees, now brushing the dry clay off his arm. "So, what did happen?" he questions.

"Someone threw a snowball size ball of clay at the back of my head," Ray explains, sounding increasingly irate. "And then threw one at Mystel. Of course, Mystel blamed me. I denied it. He threw one at me and it all kinda went downhill from there."

Kai blinks slowly, his expression oddly blank. "You have the worst luck, don't you?"

"This has nothing to do with luck," Ray replies tersely, his frown deepening. "Tala and Bryan are sabotaging their own plans."

"Hmm…" Kai hums softly to himself. "That doesn't sound like something they would do."

He has no idea what those two could possibly be thinking. He knows the two are having fun at Ray's expense, even Ray himself knows that. But once these two come up with a plan, they would never let anything get in the way. And they most certainly will not sabotage their own schemes. Even if it's to have some fun.

What are those two really up to?

The first two schemes failed because they didn't know that Mystel was claustrophobic or that he would have quick reflexes. But this third plan is the most puzzling. Surely, things couldn't have been going so wrong that Bryan or Tala thought it was necessary to pelt Ray with a ball of clay, leaving the room looking like a bomb had gone off.

Though, he must admit; cleaning it up was pretty ok, especially with Miguel helping him. He's been such a big help to him and it's nice spending time with him.

Kai shakes his head softly. Are those two troublemakers trying to pull he and Miguel in on their fun?

Who knows? He's been running after those two for years, trying to keep them out of trouble, but they still manage to surprise him. They actually seem to make a sport out of it.

"Anyway," Kai says suddenly, shrugging his shoulders lightly. "Did the two of you have fun all the same?"

"Er, well," Ray falters for a moment. "Mystel was laughing near the end."

"So," Kai says as he raises an eyebrow. "I guess it wasn't a complete disaster after all?"

Ray pouts, reluctant to admit that maybe today wasn't all that bad. "I guess not."

"I'm having a shower," Kai announces as he takes to his feet, placing his dirty clothes on a chair leaning against the wall. "See you at dinner."

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Peering into the dining room, his eyes darting back and forth, from left to right, Ray carefully surveys the occupants in the room. When he sees no sign of his two tormentors, he carefully edges his way into the room, ducking and weaving between his fellow bladers, wincing when he sees Spencer raise an eyebrow in his direction.

"Am I still forbidden to talk to you?" the tall blonde asks with a smirk of amusement on his lips.

Beside him, Robert sends Ray a sympathetic smile and pats the neko's shoulder. "I'm sure everything will work out."

Slumping his posture forward, Ray resists the urge to outwardly groan. Great, even Spencer and Robert know what's going on. Does anyone else know?!

"Bladers like to gossip," Spencer says, answering Ray's silent question. "But only a handful really know what's going on."

This time Ray does let a groan escape his lips. "Then why isn't anyone helping?"

"I thought you were getting enough help," Spencer says, a smirk appearing on his lips as Robert abruptly turns away to chuckle quietly into his hand.

"That's not what I meant!" Ray yells, bristling dangerously.

"Hey, Ray."

Ray spins around on his heel, his eyes still narrow with annoyance and frustration. "What?" he hisses.

Michael reels back from the venom in that single word, bumping into Rick's chest, who immediately places an arm around in shoulder in a form of protection. Michael sends the usually placid and mild neko a frown, his brow knotting in confusion. "What's your problem?" he asks as his bulky teammate behind him raises an eyebrow in question.

Ray presses his lips together in a thin line, feeling a tad guilty for his outburst. He draws in a deep breath through his nose, relaxing his posture slightly. "I've had another bad day," he murmurs.

That only succeeds in making Michael's frown grow deeper. "You're not going to start drinking again, are you?"

"Oh no," Ray chuckles wryly, looking off to the side in disgruntlement. "I'm not touching that stuff ever again."

Suddenly, someone pounces on Ray from behind, promptly pulling him into a headlock. Ray releases a half cry when he feels knuckles rake back and forth, burning the skin on the top of his hear. Ray immediately begins to put up a struggle when he hears a familiar and irritating voice tell him former companions that he's borrowing him for a while and then leads him away.

"Cheer up, Tiger," Bryan orders with an evil and mischievous glint shining in his emerald green eyes. "Our next plan is sure to work."

"That's what you said last time!" Ray snarls, his eyes narrowing dangerously as he wrenches himself from Bryan's iron grip and hiss at him like a feral cat.

"That was just trial and error," Tala says as he waves a dismissive hand at him. "This time it's a little more straight forward."

Bryan nods his head. "According to our source-"

Ray's slumps forward again, his eyebrow twitching. "Oliver again?"

Bryan ignores him and carries on. "-there's one place in this whole city that leads to the perfect ending to nearly every romantic movie set in New York."

"Yeah?" Ray asks with a flick of his tongue, sounding way too skeptical. "And what's that?"

"The Empire State building at night, apparently."

Ray knots his brow in thought, mentally counting the ways Tala and Bryan can somehow screw this up for him. It's a public place, so surely they wouldn't do anything too outrageous, would they? Although, this plan does sound pretty straight forward. Take Mystel to the Empire State Building and spend a little time together. "…That doesn't sound too bad."

"There's no way you can screw this one up, Kon," Tala says, clasping a heavy hand on Ray's shoulder.

"Excuse me?" Ray immediately bristles, slapping Tala's hand away harshly. "I'm not-!"

"The sun will be setting soon," Bryan cuts him off as he pulls up the sleeve of his jacket and looks at his watch. "By the time you find Mystel it'll be dark. You better hurry."

Ray places his hands on his hips in a firm stance, giving the two a very stern glare. "I don't want you two anywhere near that building tonight. Got it?"

"Pft. Fine," Tala mutters as he folds his arms over his chest and sticks his nose into the air, looking a little disgruntle. "Be that way."

Bryan mimics Tala's stance. "Ungrateful jerk."

For a long and silent moment, Ray eyes the two cautiously with a narrow gaze before he gives a sharp nod. "Good."

Bryan watches from the corner of his eye as the neko-jin leaves. He then drops his arms from his chest and plonks himself down into an empty chair, slinging his arm over the back. "Will this work?"

"Definitely," Tala replies quickly as he sits down, his smirk returning to full strength. "Mystel hates the cold."

"And Ray doesn't know that," Bryan chuckles, indicating for the bartender to get them some drinks. "This should be interesting."

"Absolutely," Tala confirms as he leans against the table, his chin resting in the palm of his hand. "We won't tell Kai until we're certain Ray and Mystel are away from the hotel."

"Kai will rush to the Empire State Building to make sure nothing has gone wrong," Bryan continues. "But when he gets there, Ray and Mystel will be long gone."

"And when Ray and Mystel return back to the hotel a short time after, Miguel will go to Kai and tell him that they've already returned."

Bryan laughs a tad sadistically and slaps his hand on the table in front of him. "It will be like clockwork."

"We're too good," Tala sighs dramatically as the waiter appears with a tray of drinks.

"We should make a business out of this," Bryan says as he flashes Tala a grin as he picks up a glass.

Tala chuckles as he too picks up a drink. "Oh, the fun we will have."

"Especially if all our clients are like Ray."

They both laugh out loud this time, raising their drinks and tapping them together. "The poor fool."

* * *

Aw, don't you just love evil Tala and Bryan? X3 Poor Ray.

Please review.


	9. A Match Made In Heaven

Reviews: Ah, thanks so much to; Taijiya Mizu, DarkBombayAngel, SherryBird, Thegoldenlock, Destiny Kitty, Rapunzelle, the Light Shadow, kuteluver, Petalwhisker X Fireheart, setsuko teshiba, BloodRedViolet, Tenshi of Freedom, kaitouahiru, ILoveKaiHiwatari and Blaze Queenie for taking the time to review! –_glomps_-

Hey there! Hope everyone is doing well, but God damn, have I had a shitty week! One good thing, though, my wrist is no longer playing up ^^

Warnings: There is a heated make-out scene between Kai and Miguel later in this chapter. Nothing too graphic, mind you. Just let your imagination run free!

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**A Match Made In Heaven**

"Where are we going?"

Ray turns his head to the side, smiling warmly down at the bubbly blonde next to him. "Somewhere special," he answers mysteriously as he wraps an arm around Mystel's shoulder and pulling him against his side. "You'll like it, I guarantee it."

Mystel blinks his big blue eyes at the arm around his shoulders, a light dusting of red appearing in his cheeks. He looks up at Ray and then smiles softly, almost shyly. "Ok."

Still smiling warmly, Ray leads Mystel through the crowds of people lining the streets of the ever busy New York City. Before leaving the hotel, he asked Michael the best path to take towards the Empire State building. Although confused as to why he wants to go there, Michael tells him none the less. After receiving the directions with a weird look, Ray finds Mystel easily enough in the crowded room where the two left the hotel moments later. He took extra caution not to let Tala or Bryan follow. He had to plead with Spencer to keep an eye on them for him. Although smirking a little too slyly for his liken, Spencer agrees.

"Not long now," Ray reassures Mystel after feeling the teen begin to squirm with restlessness. Finally reaching his desired location, Ray leads the petite teen inside and into a lift. After standing in the surprisingly empty lift for a minute and a half, the door dings open.

"Well?" Ray asks as he leads the teen out onto the roof of the Empire State building.

"Wow!" Mystel immediately exclaims in excitement. He pulls himself out of Ray's grip to run towards the edge, grasping into the safety barrier with his hands and peering down at all the lights below. "You can see everything from up here."

Ray finds himself smiling warmly as he walks over to stand by the little blonde's side. "You like it?"

"It's beautiful," Mystel replies, the sense of awe still in his voice. He then turns to Ray, his eyes shimmering as bright as the lights below. "Oh, Ray, thank you for bringing me here."

"My pleasure," Ray replies, earnestly.

Mystel smiles at him and turns back towards the spectacular scenery before him. Suddenly, the wind picks up, sending Mystel's tresses to sway elegantly behind him. Ray watches silently, musing to himself just how beautiful Mystel is looking right about now. Maybe this isn't such a bad plan after all…

Suddenly, Mystel shivers. "…Achoo!"

"What's wrong?" Ray asks in concern.

"Oh," Mystel says as he glances over his shoulder, a shy smile on his lips. "I'm just feeling a little cold."

Ray sighs softly as he too lets a little shiver race through his body. "You're going to catch a cold. We should probably go."

"Ok," Mystel says as he sighs, reluctant to turn away from the view. "Can we come back tomorrow?"

Ray blinks his amber eyes slowly for a moment before a warm smile graces his feline features. "…Sure."

Mystel immediately gives him a bright smile. "Good."

"Come here," Ray lightly orders, pulling Mystel into his arms and against his chest. "You're freezing.

At first, Mystel stiffens at contact, but he soon relaxes, snuggling into Ray's chest as he leads them back towards the lifts. "Hm, you're nice and warm."

Ray smiles, a victory sign going off in his head. Ok, so the plan didn't go as well as it's supposed to. But the end result is probably the best he's going to get tonight.

Anyway, tomorrow's another day.

-------------------------------------

Tapping his foot impatiently, Kai folds his arms over his chest. As soon as he had entered the dining room, Michael appeared and told him that Ray was heading towards the Empire State building, but is uncertain why.

Kai, on the other hand, is certain why. It's yet another matchmaking scheme from the terrible duo.

As soon as the lift doors ping open, Kai dashes out and looks around the surprisingly empty roof. "Dammit," he curses softly. "They're not here. I guess they left already."

"Kai!"

Whipping around at the sound of his name, Kai blinks when he sees Miguel step out of the second lift, and jog towards him. "Miguel!" he says in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to tell you that Ray and Mystel are back at the hotel," Miguel replies as he pauses in front of him.

"Oh," Kai mutters, inwardly groaning that he came all this way for nothing. He shakes his head. "Did anything happen?"

That question brings a smile to Miguel's handsome face. "Another failure."

Kai rolls his eyes skywards. "Figures."

"Ray is getting quite annoyed."

"I can imagine," Kai mutters as he turns to look at the view. Since he's up here, he might as well.

"It's a nice night, isn't it?" Miguel asks as he moves to stand impeccably close beside him, his arm brushing against Kai's.

"Oh, yes," Kai replies softly, his cheeks suddenly heating up. "It's beautiful."

Miguel turns his eyes towards him, the blue sapphires shimmering with an unknown, but intense emotion. "The sight is amazing as well."

Kai nods. "Mm, hmm."

"Kai?" Miguel whispers Kai's name as he turns his body towards him, the wind picking up a little, causing their hair to dance about majestically.

"Yes?" Kai says as he turns his eyes away from the view, giving Miguel his full and undivided attention. "What is it?"

"I want to try something," Miguel says as he takes a step closer, a warm, yet shy smile on his lips. "May I?"

Kai finds himself swallowing thickly. "Sure."

Raising his hands, Miguel gently takes Kai by the shoulders as he leans forward, his eyes slipping closer a moment before he presses his lips against Kai's, kissing him ever so tenderly.

Kai's eyes widen at contact and before he has a chance to do anything, Miguel pulls back, but still keeping his hands on his shoulders. "Miguel?" Kai whispers, his hand trailing up to gently touch his own lips with his fingertips.

Miguel slips his hands off Kai's shoulders to grasp his upper arms, pulling the enigma into a hug. "I don't know if it's the atmosphere or the way the moon is shining in your hair tonight, but you look more beautiful than ever."

Hearing those words, Kai blushes darkly and finds himself stuttering. "Miguel, I…" he pauses for a moment to gather himself, before he suddenly leans forward and kisses Miguel on the lips, much the same way he did to him. "It's probably the romantic atmosphere, but, god, I need you so much right now."

"Took the words right out of my mouth," Miguel says before holding Kai closer and pulling him into a deeper kiss.

-------------------------------------

Muttering to himself, Ray sits himself in the middle of his bed, crossing his arms over his chest as he pouts sulkily. He should have known the plan wouldn't go the way it happened in the movies. Let's face it, life isn't a movie.

Although, he did manage to score a little bit of quiet time with Mystel. He even got to hold him. True, it was to warm him up, but a hug is still a hug.

Still, that's the last scheme from Tala and Bryan he's going to follow. Tomorrow, he's going to tell them where to go and do things his way.

The sound of a door opening and closing in the next room pulls Ray out of his musings, and alerts him that Kai must have returned to his room. He is about to call his name through the wall when he hears shuffling and another deeper voice.

Kai brought Miguel back to his room? How odd…

Crawling off the bed, Ray sneaks his way to the peephole, which still hasn't been boarded up yet. He peers through and has to literally bite his lip to stop himself from releasing a noise of surprise. Miguel has Kai up against the door, his arms around his waist, kissing him passionately.

Ray's mouth drops out in bewilderment. What the hell…?

Taking Miguel's hand in his, Kai leads the blonde to his bed and he sits down, pulling Miguel down next to him.

Smiling lovingly, Miguel places his hand on the side of Kai's throat, his fingers entangling within the midnight blue strands of his hair. Slowly, his leans forward and places his lips against Kai's own, caressing them sensually. Kai returns the kiss with much tenderness of his own. Slowly, Miguel lets his hand slip down Kai's throat to rest on his collar bone. He slips his hand under the collar of Kai's jacket, easing it off his shoulder. Kai drops his shoulders a little, letting the article of clothing slip down his arms and he quickly removes the article, letting it drop to the floor with hardly a noise, not once breaking the kiss.

Framing Miguel's face with his hands, Kai pulls back a mere fraction of an inch to brush his lips temptingly against Miguel's, earning himself a small gasp of pleasure before pressing them together once again. Trailing his hands slowly down Miguel's neck to his chest, Kai pulls at his jacket, wanting the article of clothing gone from his new lover. Miguel drops his grip on Kai's arms and quickly discards his jacket, dropping it carelessly to the floor next to Kai's own unwanted articles of clothing.

Taking Kai by the arms, Miguel pulls him tightly against his chest, the kiss growing deeper and more passionate. Slowly, Miguel lowers Kai back against the bed and moves to lie over his slender frame. He lets a hand wander down Kai's side, his fingers trailing ghost like patterns before resting on the band of his pants. He pulls up the material of his shirt, slipping a hand under to touch the smooth and tone skin of Kai's abs and back.

Kai arches against Miguel, mewing softly into the kiss when he feels Miguel's hand touch his sensitive skin, sending shivers of delight coursing through his body. He barely hears himself gasping when Miguel runs his hand tortuously slow up his chest to pinch his nipple within his finger and thumb, causing another wave of shivers to flow through him.

Taking a moment to break the kiss, Miguel places both hands on Kai's waist, trailing up to slowly discard his t-shirt. He throws it carelessly over his shoulder to the floor before leaning over Kai again, placing light kisses on his face, trailing down his throat and then to his collar bone. He kisses the bone softly at first, but then he gives a little nip of his teeth before sucking the skin, leaving a noticeable love mark. Mewing in pleasure, Kai grasps desperately onto Miguel's shoulders, clutching the material of his shirt tightly with his fists.

"Miguel," Kai whimpers softly, pulling at his shirt.

Miguel gives his love bite a soft kiss before pulling back slightly. Kai places his hands on Miguel's chest, pushing him back softly. He then runs his hands down his chest and mimicking the motion Miguel used on him earlier, he runs his fingers down to the waist band of his shorts and then slipping his hands under his shirt, slowly pulling it up. Grabbing the end of his shirt, Miguel leans back and pulls it over his head, the muscles in his chest and stomach flexing like waves against the shore.

Leaning forward, Kai places a kiss on Miguel's chest, brushing his thick eyelashes against his nipples. Miguel's body gives a sudden jolt of pleasure before he takes him by the upper arms, pulling him into his chest and kissing him soundly upon the lips.

Maneuvering themselves so that Kai is now straddling Miguel's lap who has his hands on his hips. The two continues to kiss passionately, oblivious to anything and everything around them.

Suddenly, Miguel breaks the kiss and attack Kai's sensitive throat, licking and biting the skin, eliciting moans and mews from the teen in his arms. He moves his hand to play with the buckle on Kai's belt, successfully undoing it and unzipping his jean immediately afterwards. Slipping his hand past the band of his silky boxers, Miguel grasp Kai's harden member, patting and stroking it.

"Un!" Kai immediately gasps loudly, grasping tightly onto Miguel's shoulders again, his eye wide from the sudden pleasure. His moans and mews of pleasure begin to grow louder with each stroke. He soon starts to shiver uncontrollably, thrusting his hips against Miguel's hand, painfully awaiting release.

"Miguel," Kai moans. "Please."

"It's ok," Miguel whispers into his ear, tugging at his earlobe with his teeth. "Come for me."

From his little peephole, all Ray can do is stare, mesmerized at the scene before him. He knows he shouldn't be watching, hell he isn't that much of a pervert, but he just can't seem to turn his eyes away. Only when Kai suddenly throws his head back on a cry of ecstasy, screaming out Miguel's name in pure pleasure as he clutches desperately onto him does he snap out of his trance and scramble away from the wall.

Ray's back hits the wall on the other side of the room, his eyes wide in disbelief and his breathing erratic. "What the…?"

He never knew Kai had any sorts of feelings for Miguel, let alone strong romantic ones. True, the two have been hanging out a lot over the last couple of days. But they spent most of their time chasing after either him and Mystel, or Bryan and Tala. Surely, there's nothing in that that would cause the two to develop feelings for each other.

Unless they had feelings for each other all along and Ray didn't pick up on it.

Maybe it all started when Kai twisted his ankle and Miguel carried him back inside.

The sound of voices whispering to each other and clothes falling onto the floor reaches Ray's ears. Slowly, crawling on all fours, he silently makes his way back over to the peephole. He peers through to see Kai and Miguel slip under the sheets, Kai resting his head against the pillows and Miguel leaning over him, one arm around Kai's shoulders and leaning on the elbow of the other.

"Are you sure?" Miguel asks softly.

Kai smiles and nods his head. "Yes. Very sure."

Knowing what the two are about to participate in, Ray finds himself scrambling away from the wall once again. He jumps to his feet and runs into the bathroom, turning on the cold water tap in the shower and getting in still fully clothed.

"Oh my God," he mutters as he leans against the wall, cold water gushing around him. "How…When did…?"

Suddenly, it occurs to him. All those failed matchmaking attempts. Bryan and Tala sabotaging their own schemes. They weren't playing matchmaker for him at all; they were playing matchmaker for Kai - using him as a part of their plans.

…Those bastards!

* * *

Uh oh, X3 Ray knows. What's the neko-jin going to do? Hmm, have to wait until next time I'm afraid.

Please review.


	10. Morning With Mr Cranky

Reviews: X3 Thanks so much to; XSilentX-XShadowsX, Taijiya Mizu, Rapunzelle, ShadowYin-Yang, kuteluver, DarkBombayAngel, dragonlilly1993, kaitouahiru, the Light Shadow, SherryBird, grey-shadow-horse, grimnessreaper, Blaze Queenie, Tenshi of Freedom, Nameless Little Girl and Petalwhisker X Fireheart for reviewing! Hugs and kisses to you all X3

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**Morning With Mr. Cranky**

Taking a large swig of his bubbling black extra strong coffee, Ray slams the cup down on the table in front of him. The eyebrow over his right eye twitches uncontrollably and violently as he glares at everyone and everything through viciously narrow eyes. He is emitting an aura of utter loathing so dark one can almost physically see it.

To say that he didn't get much sleep last night would be the understatement of the year. The moans and cries of pure, unadulterated ecstasy coming from his captain's room right next door to his kept him awake until the wee hours of the morning. Thanks to the hole in the wall, the sounds were crisp and clear, and not matter how deep or how hard he buried his head under his pillow, almost suffocating himself in the process, it did not drown out the erotic sounds one bit.

They would have probably had done 'it' several times! Or maybe it was once, over several hours. Either way, they were long and loud. They finally stopped after collapsing of sheer exhaustion.

So much for a restful and relaxing vacation!

He's in a really bad mood. His date last night didn't go as well as he would have liked. Mystel might have caught a cold. Kai brought Miguel to his room where they made out practically all night. And to top it off he learnt that not only were Tala and Bryan having fun at his expense, they were using him to get Kai and Miguel together instead.

Those stupid, egotistical, arrogant bastards! Ray bristles dangerously and slams his fist on the table, not caring that his sudden movements made several bladers around him jump in shock and then scoot away, not wanting to receive the brunt of his rage.

Sitting near the neko-jin, Rick and Michael share a look and then a shrug. Who knows what the Chinese blader is pissed off about this time, as him getting up in the mornings utterly cranky has become a bit of the norm since this whole vacation started. Michael wonders if he maybe try to ask Ray what's bothering him, but Rick holds him back.

"You will only get your head bitten off," he says. "Let Kai deal with him."

Inwardly grateful that he doesn't have to deal with Ray in such a foul mood, Michael nods. The enigma probably knows how to deal with Ray when he's in such a state and can usually snap him out of it with a few sharp words.

Although, no one has ever seen Ray quite this mad before. Maybe not even Kai can calm him down.

On the opposite end of the mood scale is Kai. He's in a very good mood this morning, although a bit sore, which is totally understandable. Last night was absolutely amazing! He's never felt anything like it before in his life. The way Miguel made love to him, each touch deliberate and gentle. His hot breath caressing his ear when he whispered words of endearment and love to him.

And best of all, waking up next to him in the morning light. They both laid there in a sedated happiness, simply relishing in the essence of each other. The good morning kiss was soft and loving, silently relaying to each other that they're together now and for always.

Even thinking about it brings a hot flush to Kai's cheeks.

The two managed to pull away from each other long enough to shower and get dressed. But as soon as they stepped through the door, Claude almost tackled Miguel, asking him where he has been all night and day.

Giving Kai a small smile, Miguel told him to go ahead without him.

Sashaying through the hoards of bladers having breakfast, Kai gives half-hearted 'good mornings' to those who greets him with their own, and singles out his dark hair teammate. He immediately makes a beeline towards him, needing information about what went wrong this time.

"Hey, Ray," Kai greets as he moves to stand near the neko, his extremely good mood making him oblivious to the aura of darkness surrounding Ray.

Suddenly, Ray bristles dangerously and the room temperature seems to drop a few degrees. He turns around with his hackles up, his darken golden eyes narrow in a death glare that puts Kai's own to same and hisses at him like a deranged feral cat. So violent is Ray's reaction to him it makes Kai physically jump back in shock, raising his hands in front of him, defensively. Ray then slams his hands on the table, heaves himself up and then stalks away, snarling under his breath. Bladers of all nations and backgrounds are literally running for cover to get out of his way.

"What the hell?" Kai mutters, a lost expression of blatant confusion on his face as he watches the Neko leave his sight.

"D-did Ray just growl at you?" Michael asks slowly and quietly as the darken Chinese blader disappears from sight altogether.

Kai is in shock. Ray has never, ever hissed at him like that before and he feels a little lost of what he could have done to deserve such a fierce reaction from him. "What's his problem?" he asks, turning to the two Americans close by.

"Oh, he's been pissy for the last few days," Rick replies, waving a dismissive hand at him as he shrugs carelessly, but a look of amusement on his face nonetheless. "Ignore him."

Michael taps his cheek in thought. "I don't think he got much sleep last night," he comments after a moment. "He looks tired."

Kai blinks slowly, then blushes a deep shade of crimson and bites his bottom lip to stop a small squeak of surprise and realization from escaping his mouth. That bloody peephole! He was going to cover it up but kept forgetting about it as he was too busy chasing after Ray, Mystel, Bryan and Tala.

"Oh," he murmurs under his breath and shifts nervously on his feet. "I guess I deserved that…"

Rick tilts his head to the side, a sly grin on his lips. "Did you say something?"

"Er, no. It's nothing," Kai replies quickly, angling his head away so neither American can see the redness of his cheeks. "I'm going to talk to Ray."

"Good luck with that," Michael says as he watches the enigma make a hasty exit, following the same path Ray stormed through earlier. He turns back to Rick and picks up his coffee to take a sip. "Kai's been acting strange today as well."

"Oh, he's just in a good mood because he got laid last night," Rick says as he lifts his arms and rests them casually behind his head, an almost perverse smirk on his lips.

Michael spits out his coffee on the table in front of him and splutters for a moment. "Pardon?"

Rick laughs loudly at the reaction. "I walked past his room last night and heard him. Damn, he can be loud. And you'll never guess who he was with."

"Who?" Michael asks.

"Miguel."

Michael's eyes widen in disbelief. "You're kidding? Are you sure?"

"Couldn't miss it," Rick continues to smirk as he closes his eyes. "He was screaming his name."

"Oh," Michael murmurs as he turns back to his coffee. "So, I guess that's the reason why Ray glared at Kai this morning. He has the room right next door to Kai's. He must have heard them all night."

Once again Rick laughs loudly. "Most likely."

-------------------------------------

"Ray!" Kai calls out to his neko teammate who is currently bashing his head repeatedly against the bark of a tree, muttering something that sounds like Chinese under his breath.

"What?" Ray growls as he pauses in his movements, but not looking at him.

"Why are you so pissed with me?" Kai asks with a look of utter embarrassment on his face, the blush still present. "I'm sorry that I kept you awake last night. It wasn't like I had it all planned out to annoy you. It just happened. And I don't regret a moment of it," he says, sounding a little flustered about the whole thing.

He then narrows his eyes when he hears a soft string of wryly laughter coming from Ray. "Ray?"

Slowly, Ray turns his face towards Kai, his forehead still resting against the tree. "I've just figured something out. It all makes sense now. All those matchmaking schemes Tala and Bryan put me through? They weren't for me. They were for you and Miguel."

"What?" Kai says as he reels back in surprise. He narrows his eyes and looks to the side in thought. That couldn't be right. Although, during the second scheme where Mystel was suppose to trip and fall into Ray's arms failed when he was the one who twisted his ankle and had to be carried inside.

And the pottery incident? He was just cleaning up, with Miguel helping. But Ray did say that someone belted him with some clay, resulting in a fight breaking out between him and Mystel.

Oh God, they really did have everything planned down to the minus detail.

"Oh, I see. They're getting good," Kai murmurs with a slight sense of awe in his voice, bemused that after years of chasing after the terrible pair, they can still outwit him at every turn. He shakes head, promising himself to have a talk with the two before turning his attention back to Ray. "It's not my fault. I didn't know what they were up to."

"I know that," Ray replies tersely as he pushes away from the tree, his eyes narrow and his fangs glistening in the morning light. "But I'm still pissed!"

"Well, if you just told Mystel your feelings then none of this would have happened," Kai says as he places his hands on his hips, giving Ray a stern look.

Ray's eye gives a sudden twitch. "So, all of this is my fault?"

"Yes!"

"Ok, so maybe it is," Ray says as he folds his arms defiantly over his chest. "But that's beside the point!"

"Then what is the point?" Kai asks, he too folding his arms over his chest.

"I don't know!" Ray exclaims as he throws his arms into the air in a sign of frustration. "I'm pissed off!"

"Oh," Kai snorts and rolls his eyes skyward. "That explains everything."

"You're not helping," Ray hisses as he pins Kai with another glare. "I can't believe those two. They used me as a part of their plans to play matchmaker for you!"

Wincing slightly, Kai drops his arms from his chest, using one hand to subconsciously rub the elbow of the other. "I don't know whether that was their intention at the beginning, but is sure turned out that way," he says softly as a light blush appears on his cheeks again. "I guess I should thank you."

"Damn straight, you do," Ray says as he places one hand on his hip, using the other to poke Kai in the chest. "You and Miguel kept me up all night!"

"Shh!" Kai hushes him frantically, his blush darken an extra shade or two. He glances around at their surroundings, hoping that no one is nearby of eavesdrop on them. "Not so loud. Someone might hear you."

"I'm no louder than you were," Ray replies, but lowering his voice none the less. He sighs and drops his chin to his chest. He should be happy for his captain. And he is. Well, kinda. He's happy that he's found someone to be with, but he would appreciate it if they do it in Miguel's room next time.

"Um…Sorry?" Kai says, but not sounding too apologetic at all.

"I didn't know you were in love with Miguel," Ray says as he stands up straight, looking at Kai with an expression of perplexity.

Kai runs a shy hand through his slate locks. "I had to keep it hidden because, you know…"

"Bryan and Tala," Ray says, his eye giving another twitch at the thought of the two arrogant Russians.

"I don't know how they found out," Kai says as he shakes his head in disbelief. "I never told anyone. They're getting really good. I have to keep a closer eye on them."

"Oh, they're good alright," Ray suddenly snarls and turns on his heel, stalking back inside with his hands into fists by his sides, looking like a man on a mission.

"Where are you going?" Kai calls out after him.

"I'm going to talk to Tala and Bryan," Ray replies over his shoulder. "And then kick their asses!"

"Ray! Wait!" Kai calls and moves to follow him when suddenly someone grabs him gently by the arm and holds him back. "What?" he mutters as he glances over his shoulder, his eyes widening a fraction when he recognizes the teen. "Spencer?"

"Let him go," the bulky blonde says, discreetly nodding his head in the direction of the hotel. "I think it will do him some good to get things off his chest."

Kai presses his lip into a thin line, not wanting to admit defeat, but knows that Spencer is right. "I guess."

"Besides, there's someone else who desires your attention," Spencer suddenly gives him a sly look, a slight grin appearing on his lips with Kai's eyes widen a little. "I heard."

Once again, a dark blush adorns Kai's pale features as he stutters for a moment, shock setting in. "What? How?"

"I have the room across from yours, remember?"

"Oh my god!" Kai whines as he buries his face into his hands. "Who else knows?"

Spencer gives the young enigma a sympathetic pat. "Don't worry. That just means you don't have to hide your relationship, doesn't it?"

"That's not the point!"

* * *

Next chapter is the last one. X3 A shame, I know. I'll just have to start another fic with a bit of character torture.

Please review.


	11. Confession on the Most Frustrating Day

Reviews: Thanks so much to; mimic shalle, kuteluver, Rapunzelle, the Light Shadow, DarkBombayAngel, Taijiya Mizu, dragonfire7654321, ShadowYin-Yang, kit572, SherryBird, grimnessreaper, kaitouahiru, Tenshi of Freedom, Blaze Queenie and ItotallyLoveHim for taking the time to review! Loves hearing from you all very much :3

Hey there! Yep, this is the last chapter; I hope you enjoy reading it! Thanks so much for all the support during these eleven chapters.

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**Confession on the Most Frustrating Day**

Miguel smiles politely as he makes his way through the masses of his fellow bladers, looking for his dual hair enigma. Yes, he can safely say 'his' now, last night definitely cemented that little fact in, and he could not be happier. He's been watching Kai from a distance for ages now, waiting for an opportunity to interact with the half-Russian.

Still, looking for his said boyfriend, who despite having looks that are totally unique, the teen isn't very easy to spot amongst the masses. He's here one minute and gone the next.

Maybe he should start calling him Houdini.

"Hey, Miguel!"

Lifting his head at the sound of his name, Miguel raises an eyebrow when he sees Rick motioning for him to come over a somewhat egotistical look in his expression. Feeling slightly suspicious, Miguel wanders over to him, his brow knotting slightly when he sees a huge and slightly perverse smirk on the American's lips.

"Yeah?" he asks when he reaches him, slightly acknowledging the other American sitting quietly beside him.

"Are you looking for Kai?" Rick asks as he casually leans back in his seat, his arm dangling over the back.

"In fact, I am," Miguel replies, folding his arms over his chest in a defensive posture. "Why?"

Rick's grin widens and looks as if he's ready to say nothing humorous or perverted when Michael suddenly leans across the table and covers his mouth with his hand.

"He's talking to Ray," Michael tells him. "Ray snarled at him this morning and he's gone to find out why."

"Snarled at him?" Miguel repeats, his brow knotting deeper in confusion. Why on earth would Ray do something like that? Sure, he's being acting quite out of character the last few days, but to actually hiss at someone who is only trying to help? That's not on.

"Yeah," Rick says as he slaps Michael's hand away and glares at him before turning to smirk at Miguel once again. "Maybe it's because you kept him awake all night."

Miguel's eyes widen in alarm, a light dusting of pink settling across the bridge of his nose. Ah, so _that__'__s_ the reason why. Hmm, now that makes more sense as the Chinese blader is rooming just next door. He and Kai must have been too caught up in the moment to even consider the teen next door.

What can he say? The intimacy took over their senses.

Suddenly, a surge of protectiveness races through him and Miguel lunges forward, grabbing the American but the collar of his shirt and pulling him close in a threatening manner.

"How many have you told?" he asks him in a low voice, his eyes narrowing in a glare that could only be described as something Kai taught him.

"Er, just Michael," Rick answers, a drop of nervous sweat trickling down his temple to his chin, finding Miguel's possessiveness.

"You won't tell anyone else, will you?" Miguel says, not so much as a question, but as a statement that promises pain if he doesn't say yes.

Rick releases a nervous chuckle. "My lips are sealed."

"Good," Miguel says brightly, dropping Rick back into his seat with a smile on his face. "I'm glad that we had this conversation. Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to find my boyfriend. And don't you dare embarrass him."

Rick and Michael blink slowly, stupefied by the whole thing. Miguel turns on his heel and starts walking in the opposite direction.

Michael slowly turns back to Rick and slowly starts to snigger to himself. Soon the sniggers soon turn into chuckles, and before long, side splitting laughter. "You were told off by Miguel!" he exclaims as he begins to hit the table in front of him with his hand. "That's so funny!"

"Hey, shut up!" Rick yells at his teammate, a look of sheer irritation on his face. "How the hell was I suppose to know he would go into full fledge overly-protective boyfriend mode?"

Michael can do nothing but laugh even more, remembering the look of fear on Rick's face when Miguel suddenly grabbed him by the throat. It's a look he will never forget. A look he will never let Rick forget either!

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"Do you think Ray has figured it out yet?"

Bryan takes a moment to consider his captain's question for a moment. Suddenly the feeling of utter rage and psychic murderous thoughts projecting their way causes the two Russians to shudder and then stiffen in their seats. "By the sudden drop in room temperature, I'd have to say yes."

Slowly, the two turn around to find a certain dark hair Chinese blader standing a few feet behind them, emitting probably the most powerful and dangerous black aura they have ever felt.

Although the aura is supposed to put fear in them, instead it impresses them.

"You guys…" Ray says slowly, his body shaking with severe tremors, barely suppressing his rage.

"Kitty-cat," Tala greets as he grins in a wolf like fashion. "How are you doing?"

"Been sleeping well?" Bryan enquires, the two blatantly ignoring the danger.

"No, I haven't," Ray replies tersely as he takes one step after the other, slowly and threateningly making his way over to his two tormentors. "And do you know why?"

"No," Tala says as he gives the neko his full attention. "Tells us all your problems."

"Yes," Bryan says, unable to stop the smirk from appearing on his lips. "You know we like to help."

Ray stops just in front of them, his head down so they cannot see his eyes as his body continues to tremble with anger and murderous rage. "All those matchmaking schemes weren't for me, were they?" he not so much as asks, but rather, states as fact.

Tala and Bryan share a look and a smirk before turning their attentions back to Ray. "Ok, the truth," Bryan says with a dramatic sigh. "At first we thought it would be fun to play matchmaker, so to speak."

"But after a confrontation with Miguel," Tala continues as he folds his arms over his chest. "We decided to focus our attention elsewhere."

Ray peers up at them through his veil of black hair, bags clearly seen under his blood shot amber eyes. "By continuing to use me?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Bryan replies bluntly.

"Grr…" Ray growls as he raises his shaking fists in front of him, looking like it's taking all his will power not to try and slug one of the smirking Russians. He would try to go for the both of them if he could.

"Think of it this way," Tala starts as he waves a casual hand in his direction. "It was the least you could have done for Kai. After everything he's done for you and the others."

"I'm not mad that you got Kai and Miguel together," Ray snaps, sounding oddly sincere, but completely irate at the same time. "I'm mad because you used me to do it!"

Tala shrugs carelessly, Bryan sitting next to him completely at ease and looking far too casual for someone as infuriated as Ray to take to. "Hey, sometimes we all have to make sacrifices."

Ray emits another deep throat growl before suddenly straightening and taking a deep breath through his nose. "Now that you have succeeded in your plan to get Kai together with Miguel, that means you'll leave me alone, right?"

"Not necessarily…" Tala replies, the corners of his lips twitching to his infamous wolfy grin.

And Bryan matches that with a sadistic one of his own. "We promised we'd help out, didn't we?"

"Oh no, you don't," Ray snaps, pinning the two with a vicious glare, his lips in a deep frown, his fangs glistening dangerously in the light. He swiftly lunges forward and grabs the two Russian's by the collars of their shirts and pulls them both to their feet, much to either teens' surprise.

"That's it," he snarls like a feral cat, the pupils of his eyes so thin that they can barely be seen. "No more schemes. I'll do it myself! You're the spawn of the devil!" he yells as he throws the two of them back and into their seats before turning on his heel, huffs stiffly and then storms away, the walls and ceiling quivering in his wake.

"Spawn of the devil," Tala repeats as he watches the neko disappear from sight, absentmindedly rubbing his neck. "That's a new one."

Bryan taps his chin in thought, his smirk not faltering the slightest. "I like it."

"Yeah," Tala grins widely. "Me too. We should write it down."

Bryan laughs and shakes his head. "You were right."

"Yep," Tala says smugly. "My plans always work. I knew that if we provoked and anger him enough he would do it himself. This is going to be interesting."

"Do you think he'll really do it, though?" Bryan asks.

"No doubt," Tala replies. "He'll do it just to spite us."

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Bounding happily into the breakfast room, Mystel smiles brightly when he receives a chorus of 'Good mornings' from his fellow bladers. Replying with his own salutations, he makes his way over to the breakfast, feeling slightly hungry. However, before he has a chance to reach the table he hears someone call his name in a commanding voice and a moment later, someone grabbing him by the wrist and dragging him outside.

"Hey!" he calls out in surprise as he stumbles over his own feet. "Ray?"

"We need to talk," Ray says, his gaze firm, his lips in a frown.

"Er, ok," Mystel stutters meekly, silently wondering if he's done something wrong to anger the neko. He hopes not. He likes Ray; he's been so nice to him during their stay here.

Pulling him deeper into the gardens, Ray suddenly stops, causing Mystel to crash into the back of him. Ray lets go of the young blonde's wrist and takes a moment to compose himself pinching the bridge of his nose and drawing in several deep breathes through his nose.

"Ray?" Mystel whispers his name softly, worry clearly in his tone. He wrings his hands nervously in front of him as Ray takes a few more deep breathes. "Is there something wrong? Did I do something to upset you? If so…Please tell me what it is so I can apologize for it."

Slowly, Ray turns to face him. He takes a step forward and places his hands on Mystel's shoulders. A small appears on his lips when Mystel blinks up at him, confusion shimmering deep within his bright sky blue eyes. Gently, Ray then lowers his head and presses his lips against Mystel's in a tender kiss.

Feeling Ray's lips against his causes Mystel to freeze to the spot in surprise, his eyes widening ever so slightly in disbelief of what is currently happening. However, a short moment later he lets his eyes slip close and he leans into the kiss, his hands hanging loosely by his sides. One of Ray's hands move from Mystel's shoulder to gently cup his cheek, and tilts his face further towards him so he can deepen the kiss, relishing in the feel of finally pulling the petite blonde into a tender display of affection.

Oh, how he's waited for this moment.

Breaking the kiss, Ray pulls back smiling softly to himself when he sees a dark blush adorning Mystel's cheeks. Slowly, Mystel opens his eyes and blinks ever-so cutely up at him with an expression that is a mixture of hope and confusion. "Ray?"

"I have several confessions to make," Ray says as he keeps his hands on Mystel's shoulder and cheek, holding him still so he doesn't run away. There is no way he's going to let the small blonde get away from him now. "A lot of strange things have been happening lately, haven't they?"

Swallowing thickly, Mystel nods his head, unable to find his voice.

"Being locked in a closet, something trying to trip you, the pottery clay fight and eventually the Empire State building, they all happened because of one thing…," Ray continues, his eyebrow twitching slightly as he remembers. "I got drunk and told Tala and Bryan that I have a huge crush on you."

"Huh?"

"They wanted to try and play matchmaker."

Once again, Mystel blinks slowly in confusion. Did he hear right? Bryan and Tala playing matchmaker? Now, that's a scary thought. He shakes his head suddenly, realizing something Ray just said. "You have a crush on me?"

Ray nods. "Yes, I think you're a gorgeous person and I want you to go out with me."

A warm smile of joy appears on Mystel's face as he presses his hands against Ray's chest, leaning forward on his toes the leave a light peck on his lips. "I've got a crush on you to," he says as he pulls back to beam up at him. "I would love to go out with you. Why didn't you just tell me?"

Ray gives him a wry smile as he wraps his arms around Mystel's waist, pulling him against his chest, letting the blonde snuggles under his chin. "Oh, believe me," he mutters. "I've been asking myself the same question. Over and over again."

He then slips his fingers under Mystel's chin and leans forward the gather his lips into another kiss, hoping to make this one more passionate than the last. But the sound of footsteps approaching makes him break the kiss suddenly, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up on end when he spies two very familiar demented heathens amble in.

"See?" Tala says smugly as he walks into the clearing. "I told you out plans would work."

"You just have to be patient," Bryan says as he appears behind his red hair captain and behind him, Kai and Miguel also stepping into the clearing.

"I guess this plan wasn't a complete disaster," Kai says as Miguel wraps an arm around his shoulders and he turns towards him.

Miguel simply smiles. "Doesn't look like it."

With his eyebrow twitching violently, Ray reluctantly removes his arms from his blushing new boyfriend. He takes a deep breath through his nose as he grabs a rather thick tree branch and breaks it off in his hands with one loud crack. Suddenly, he whips around, ready to swing the branch like a baseball bat. "That's it! You're so dead now!"

The two full Russians of the small group immediately stiffen as they eye the tree limb, a sense of fear in their expressions for the first time when they realize that maybe they pushed the Neko just a little bit too far. "Oh, shit!"

"Run!"

"Get back here!" Ray screams in anger as he takes off after the two.

Kai immediately pulls himself out of Miguel's arms to give chase to his Chinese teammate, trying to stop him from doing anything too drastic to his childhood friends. "Ray, calm down!"

"I am calm," Ray snarls back. "I'm just going to shove this stick where the sun doesn't shine!"

"This is how you show your gratitude?" Tala asks over his shoulder.

"Yes!"

Watching as Tala and Bryan run away from a stick wielding Ray, who in turn has a feisty enigma on his trail, wanting him to calm down brings a look of pure amusement on Miguel's face. He shakes his head and turns to the other blonde. "It's been an interesting vacation, hasn't it?"

Mystel smiles brightly, watching Ray take a swing at Bryan's head, missing him by only the skin of his teeth. "It sure has."

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Tada! The end. Good old Ray. Finally told Mystel how he feels. Yay, I've finished another story! I'm so proud of myself X3

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